Rise of a Hero
by Demenior
Summary: Sequal to Demons Within Me! The Gods are gathering forces to destroy Archie and he wants to just live in peace. Is it possible to exist peacefully when everyone is preparing for War?
1. Promises

Rise of a Hero

Disclaimer: I don't own 'Class of the Titans'. What is mine is the overall plot-line for this fanfiction, and the few original characters and character adaptations I have made.

Warnings: This sequel will be bloodier, there will be many character deaths, there will be major betrayal, bonding-moments, cliché bonding moments, probably a bit more colorful-language (but not too much) and have more drama than ever before. Ahh, we all love the clichéd soap-opera drama, no?

Pairings: **Finally **we have Archie/Atlanta (for how long?) and still the Jay/Theresa/Neil triangle.

Authors Note: Title is subject to change. I'm crossing my fingers that I can keep up the same level of rather-good writing that 'Demons' had, and not kill the whole idea with this story, and I just can't get all these crazy action-scenes out of my head that I hope to manage to put into this sequel. I really hope you guys enjoy it- The long awaited sequel to _Demons Within Me _is here!

Wow, I'm back to chapter one again.

Chapter 1: Promises

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_A dark day, grey clouds overcastting the sun and hiding the light from tired eyes. Faces, bodies, walking back and forth, passing reflections of who they are, whom they were and what they would be. None take notice and they continue on, a sea of umbrellas and briefcases. _

_But one body pauses to look at himself in the window. It's not to check his hair or secretly watch a girl behind him; it's to look at himself. Inside. Through unfeeling eyes, the boy sees a flash of long claws, horns and thick fur and the snap of sharp teeth. A howl rings through his mind, one that he hasn't heard in a long time._

_This creature smiles and continues moving along. As he passes through the crowd, it might be a bit of refracted light from the hidden sun, but his eyes flash red, and then they are grey-blue, and he smiles no more. _

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"Finally!" Atlanta said as she stretched out her legs. Happily she threw down her crutches and then teetered on her weak leg. It had taken a while longer, but now she was officially walking on her own. She just wished Archie was there to see her.

She and Archie had been attacked by Cronus a few weeks ago, and when he'd tried to kill Archie, and nearly succeeded, he'd also delivered a painful blow to her thigh, cutting the muscle too. Archie, thanks to his heritage, had healed much faster than she, but she had also healed in an incredible amount of time.

"I'm so up for a run! Who wants to do laps?"

Nervous looks were exchanged in the group. Even in her weakened state, who knew if they could beat Atlanta or not? Herry finally shook his head and with a 'no way' went to lift some weights. Odie took his skipping rope and followed. Theresa, sitting between Jay and Neil, was more concerned with the looks Jay and Neil kept giving each other out of the corners of their eyes. Atlanta sighed in exasperation,

"Where's Archie when you really need him?"

"Thanks, Lan."

Atlanta's head whipped around and her eyes lit up, "About time you got here! You're late!"

Archie shrugged and jogged up to her, "Sorry," he shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck, "woke up early and couldn't get back to sleep. I needed to go for a run."

Atlanta rolled her eyes, "Now, see anything you want to comment on," she gestured to herself.

Archie looked her up and down, "You have a stain right there," he pointed to a spot on her shirt. Worried, and a little frustrated, she looked down, and as she did, he flicked her in the nose.

"Got'cha," he laughed.

"Dork! I don't need my crutches anymore, remember?" Atlanta fumed, she hated getting caught off-guard by silly little pranks.

"Right! You're looking good, for now. How long can you last?" Archie challenged.

"Long enough to beat you!" Atlanta gave him a well-mannered shove and trotted (with barely a limp) to the track and slowly began to speed up. Herry and Odie cheered as she broke into a run, soon joined in their cheering by the rest of the gang. Archie let her have a head start before racing after her.

You would have never noticed it form looking at Archie, but he was the descendant of the most treacherous demon (un)known to man. So evil, he'd been erased from the history of mankind, and the only one allowed to remember him had died in war before ever seeing Tulais again.

Archie, like all of them, was also a descendant of a famous Greek hero. His ancestor was Achilles. Being both half-demon and half-hero definitely had its own pros and cons. The Greek gods, who were mentoring and looking after the group, didn't like the demon, but loved the hero. That was as much as the gang actually knew.

That said, some of them had started to catch on to some strange happenings going on. All of them involved Archie and his ancestors in some way, but they trusted the gods enough not to investigate any further.

Archie had a dark secret. He knew that after the gang of seven teenagers had defeated Cronus, Titan of Time, the gods were going to kill him. He still didn't know why yet, that was something he was still looking into, and might've had help if Tulais hadn't given up his life to save Archie's.

After the surprise attack where Atlanta had been so badly injured, Archie had been on his deathbed and would have died for sure. He needed someone else's life, and no one was really willing to die for him. In the end, it was Tulais who gave himself up to let his descendant live at least one more day. Archie hoped that maybe now Tulais and Achilles could be reunited, finally.

So now he was trying to figure out how he was going to be able to save the world from Cronus, and deal with the everyday issues of being a _teenage _half-demon, and keep his secrets safe from the others as well as stay alive and not be killed by the creators of mankind. He didn't know who he could really trust, especially since Jay had been fed so many lies about demons from Hera. He was utterly brainwashed into believing Archie as the enemy, and Archie himself didn't know if that wasn't completely true or not. One thing was for certain, this was his problem and his problem alone.

Archie let Atlanta win, even though in her weakened state she would have been easy prey for him. Momentarily Archie frowned at the thought, He'd had so many random little snippets of thought, like he was a hunter or murderer and everything else was his game. He shook his head and gave Atlanta a friendly clap on the shoulder. She nearly buckled and he caught her. A glance between them said more than her 'thanks' and his 'no problem'.

They'd been, well, _closer _since the night they'd returned to the Brownstone and learned of Tulais's death. Still somewhat scared of what the others might think, and especially how Jay would react, they just hadn't brought up the subject.

"Guess I'm not as sturdy as I thought," Atlanta smiled.

"For sure," Archie rolled his eyes, "you're hardly walk-worthy."

Atlanta stuck her tongue out at him, "I still beat you."

"I let you win," Archie countered.

Atlanta gasped sarcastically, "You did not! I challenge you to another race- first one outside wins!"

The two of them sped off, side by side, and out into the fresh air.

"They're so cute," Theresa smiled, "and I love how Atlanta's still the only one of us who's okay with Archie's ancestors." She turned to face her other teammates.

They all lowered their eyes, except Jay, who wouldn't let his uncertainty show to his team.

"I'm.. I'm pretty good with it, just… I swear I've seen his eyes, like, turn _red _and it just… spooks me. Archie's still my friend, no matter what though," Herry said slowly and quietly, as if the others were going to turn on him for his opinion.

Surprisingly, Odie and Theresa both nodded their agreement to him; Neil let out a consented grunt and went back to making sure he didn't have anything stuck in his teeth. Jay remained silent. No one really wanted to challenge their leader, because they knew that he would continue looking out for them, and Archie, but it scared them to see just how cold Jay was to Archie's ancestor, Tulais, in particular.

Everyone looked to Jay but he remained silent. Everyone remembered how strangely he'd reacted to Archie when the Demonspawn had returned after a mission with Cronus, where Tulais had come to their aid for the first time. Tulais and Jay had fought together in the demon's final battle, protecting Theresa while she drove Archie and Atlanta to Chiron where they could be tended too.

Secretly, Theresa felt despaired that Jay still wouldn't agree that he could trust Archie, after all that had happened, all that Archie had done for them and gone through, he still wouldn't trust him because of the fact that he was half-demon. Theresa shook her head sadly and sighed.

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Atlanta leaned against Archie as the two of them sat outside. It was a nice day out, and she was enjoying being alone with him again. He always seemed so tense and nervous inside the school now, though she couldn't understand why.

"Nice run," Archie said quietly, leaning his head against hers. She smiled and closed her eyes tiredly.

"You nearly beat me though," she murmured.

"I let you-"

"Don't ruin the moment," she was quick to say.

Archie giggled, if that's the right way to describe a boy when he's not laughing, but not trying to not laugh, and tightened his grip around her waist. He relished in the fact that he could now hold her like this, and not be afraid.

And it was all thanks to Tulais, that he could have Atlanta, and Tulais was even the reason that the two of them had finally admitted to maybe liking each other 'more than just friends'. Archie closed his eyes; he had a lot of thanks owed to the demon. He smiled sadly at the thought of his ancestor, not going to cry anymore, but he still missed the demon. Even if he had only known Tulais for around a week.

//You still owe me, Brat// the Tulais his grieving mind had invented for himself to talk to, but had never gone away, said. Archie felt his spirit lighten slightly, still wondering if he was going insane.

When he opened his eyes, Archie blinked slowly, his eyesight becoming slightly fuzzy. It wasn't because of tears, mind you, but his vision still didn't clear. He rubbed his eyes with a hand, still keeping the other around Atlanta, but everything was blending even more. He shook his head, getting a little worried now. As he started to get up, he suddenly lost control of his legs and fell back down.

"Archie, are you okay?" he heard Atlanta ask before he blacked out.

"Yeah, sorry, my leg fell asleep," he grinned at her. Atlanta laughed.

"Don't worry me, next time. I thought something really bad was happening," she punched him in the arm. Was it just her or had his voice suddenly got deeper? She stifled a giggle at the thought of Archie only now starting to go through the phase where his voice cracked and he finally grew hair in normal places, other than his head, like a normal guy.,

"Well, I need to walk around a bit. Will you be okay?" he asked as he stood up, still a little unbalanced.

"Yeah," she yawned, "I'll head back to the gym and hang with the guys, I'm exhausted." Archie helped her up and pulled her into a quick hug.

"Be careful," he whispered so quietly she wasn't sure she'd heard him. He pulled away and started to walk towards the inside when she looked over her shoulder to him,

"Hey, Arch, when was the last time you bathed? You're looking like a homeless person," she teased. He looked over his shoulder at her and smiled wryly, red eyes hiding some sort of knowledge that was just beyond her reach. Then he continued walking and quickly headed inside.

Atlanta shivered as she watched him go. That wasn't her Archie.

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Hera was looking over some documents from Hermes when she heard her door open. She continued reading, waiting to be addressed properly first.

"Hello."

Hera frowned at the in-proper greeting. She lifted her eyes and nearly jumped when she saw Archie leaning in the doorframe.

"Hello… Archie. What can I help you with?" Hera said slowly, on guard. She was scared out of her wits, would never show it, but she realized her breathing had quickened. Slowly she stood and moved to the side of her desk.

"I wanted to know…" Archie began slowly, stepping forwards. The heavy doors closed behind him.

"I wanted to know… if you've ever been locked in a cage…"

He moved closer.

"Then freed for only a moment, before being locked away again?"

Hera trembled.

_"I_ _am still a demon and there is still strength in my claws, I will break out and when I do- I will destroy you all,"_ Archie quoted coldly.

Hera nearly shrieked when he looked at her with his blood-red eyes. She paled tremendously and held onto the side of her desk with white knuckles.

"No… it can't be," she breathed, "how- how did you come back? You are dead! Dead! Zeus! Athena!" she cried.

Tulais burst out laughing, "So few words can bring the Queen of the Gods to hysteria. But not yet Hera, there is still much to be done before we meet in battle," he narrowed his eyes, "and then I will kill you."

He turned and left the room, passing Zeus and Athena as he did so.

"What happened?" he heard before Tulais retreated back into Archie's mind and the boy stumbled. Archie shook his head, wondering how on earth he wound up here. With a shrug he headed to the gym.

"Hera, calm down," Zeus said soothingly, "what happened?"

"H-he must…" Hera regained her composure, "the Demonspawn must die- tonight!"

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Wow, first chapter and the action has already started.

So this, save for the end, was a boring, review-chapter to remind you guys what happened in 'Demons Within Me'.

So, not much to say, but I've given a few hints on some things you should be looking for, the last line makes one thing pretty obvious, but what about the whole Tulais-in-Archie thing, hm? What will come out of that? It's all part of the prophecy that you can find in 'DWM, Chapter 12: The True Prophecy'. You all know I love Tulais too much to give up on his that easily.

Hope you enjoyed, and I'd like to hear some feedback- it'd be nice.

Demenior


	2. Uncovering

Rise of a Hero

Disclaimer: See chapter one

Warnings: See chapter one

Pairings: See chapter one

Authors Note: Well… I just **cannot** let the DWM/RH saga die like that. I need to update to re-inspire myself for these dark stories.

Anyways, back to RH, here's the next chapter and I know I said I wanted to try and make it all fast-paced so that it didn't drag on and on, but now I'm saying: forget that. DWM was fine being 'dragged on and on', so this one can do the same.

If you ever noticed, not once (save for the last chapter) in DWM did I say "it was a few days later" or "a day later"- it was all morning-to-night and day-to-day. I just found that really cool…

Chapter 2: Uncovering

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Tired. Light-headed. Drowsy. Cranky. Confused. Lazy.

_Bored._

Archie was lying spread-eagle on his bed, his hoodie covering what little of the floor one used to be able to see, and his ankle brace leaning up against his desk. He had his head resting at the foot of his bed and his feet taking up the space where his pillow had once sat before it had been kicked onto the floor. He'd realized he didn't want to sleep on something that smelled like feet and done his best to get it off the bed. But then again, maybe it would be better smelling of feet then smelling of floor. He debated getting it, but decided it was too far away.

Most of his energy seemed to have been sucked away, like vacuum sealed or dehydrated like the foods astronauts ate, and now he was left as this big fat body taking up space and using too much air waiting for someone to come water him so he'd have energy again. The funny patterns in the roof had all gone away for tea time and there was nothing but a stupid, uneven, hospital-white roof to amuse him. He was sure some plaster had fallen in his eye, or maybe he just hadn't blinked enough and it was getting dried out.

Archie had taken up this position after returning from the school. He felt ultimately confused, light-headed and more, as listed above, and so had retreated to his room and sprawled out on his bed after removing unnecessary clothing thanks to the impossible heat around this time of the year.

Something had happened at the school, but he remembered nothing. It was like waking up in the middle of a dense fog when you distinctly remembered falling asleep in your own bed, and much to your surprise your feet are still moving. He hadn't really registered what was happening until they'd gotten back to the Brownstone, and then he'd complained and whined and headed upstairs.

He'd run over the possibilities of what might have happened. Falling asleep with his eyes open and sleepwalking, some alien force taking over his mind and dieing and leaving his body for a few minutes were among the few.

I read too many books he sighed, closing his eyes and deciding that the roof hadn't attacked him, he was just too bored to even blink.

//For once we agree. You should be off training, preparing to defend yourself against the gods, Brat// Tulais commented dryly.

Archie snorted exasperatedly I'd like to see you move around. With all your fur you would've been crawling under my bed or into the nearest pond

//On the contrary, I was still getting rid of my winter for, so in all this heat I probably would have just shed all over your belongings//

Fuzzy purple hair on my clothes? No way. I think you'd have melted before you got close enough to shoot hair at me

Tulais chuckled //Regardless; I do not believe I would be allowed in your home anyways. Besides those stupid immortals loathing me, your Leader does not seem very fond of me either//

Jay? Well… he can melt with you

//I'm being serious. If it comes to a battle between you and the gods, where will your companions stand? Will they aide you- or will they turn their backs on you? I do not think your Leader will aide you. In fact, he will turn on you.//

Pfft, I can beat Jay any day, hands tied behind my back

//Archie, smarten up. Have you forgotten this is your life on the line?//

…

"I know," Archie whispered quietly to the room, "I know."

And I wish I didn't have to worry about that. I wish I could just focus on Cronus and keeping up my grades in school. I wish I didn't have to worry about watching my back at all times and not letting my friends know about it

//I have no divine powers to help grant any of those wishes, but I would like to know, why can you not tell your friends? Surely you can at least trust young Atalanta?//

Archie furrowed his brow. It hadn't exactly crossed his mind to tell his friends, it just hadn't seemed like the right thing to do.

Because it would crush them. It would completely dissolve their sense of security, and besides, if the gods found out… I can't let anything happen to Atlanta because of me

//Then why are you now romantically involved with her?//

Archie nearly opened his mouth to say something smart in reply, but he had nothing to say. Instead he clasped his hands over his face.

"Stupid," he muttered, "I'm so stupid and I keep messing up." He took a deep breath, held it, and then slowly let it out, drawing his hands down his face so that he could look up at his stupid, not-interesting ceiling.

"And it's going to get someone killed soon."

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Machines buzzing, screens glowing and illuminating the room in a soft glow. Door creaked, light flooded the dark as she slipped inside and sealed the light out behind her. Green eyes remained unfocused as she nervously stroked dark gold hair, leaning on door while she waited for him to speak.

He turned, silhouetted from the glow on the screens. Only two green spots where eyes might be glowing on his face.

"What do you think?" he said slowly.

She looked around quietly, stepping forwards until she reached his bed. Almost wary of the shadows, she sat down on the edge, still worrying the hair.

"Something's not right," she finally said.

"I agree. That's why I've been doing all I can to find some more information, but when the gods said they erased Tulais, they did a very good job of it." His hands folded in his lap while his face remained unseen. The silhouette turned, looking to the dark corner.

"What do you think?" he asked to the wall.

"I am not as smart as you, but now that you have mentioned it, I see something dark happening as well."

She jumped at the new voice, violet illuminating her person to shine upon the figure in the corner. He stood motionless, like a great statue.

"We have been told that demons are terrible and vile in nature, and yet I did not see anything dark in Tulais, save for his anger," he continued.

The one at the computers nodded, "As it was also said, when Cronus ruled over the earth, it was a time of peace and prosperity. I do not understand what happened to cause him to become so twisted, unless it is someone else who has done the twisting."

Three faces were silent, grim with thin lips and narrowed eyes. The same thoughts running in their minds as they fought with what they knew and what they believed and how they had been deceived.

"Then it is decided," she whispered, "someone is lying to us."

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Demons are evil. Cronus is evil. Cronus is a… demon? But so is Archie. Archie is not evil.

Yet.

Archie is a hero. Hero's are good. Will good counteract the bad? Will he end up attacking his own teammates? Who would he attack first? How can the team be protected?

Jay sighed, resting his face on the back of his hands. This was all so confusing. Maybe, just maybe, Tulais had been an exception from the normal demons? No, Hera had said he was the most untrustworthy, wicked demon in history. So then why had he helped them?

Well, there was that time where he'd tried to steal Archie away, but they'd gotten him back. They'd had to fight, and had all suffered injuries, but they did basically every time they fought Cronus.

Speaking of which, why hadn't Tulais sided with Cronus if he hated the gods so much? Why had he helped them rather than fight against them more often? Well, the first time Archie had made a deal with him, and the second time they were trying to save Atlanta and Archie's lives. Then he went and sacrificed himself for Archie.

Why couldn't life just go as expected?

A sharp sound and Jay nearly jumped out of his skin. It came again and, regrettably, he jumped again. On the third ring he recognized the sound of a telephone, but they didn't have a phone. Conversations could be traced or intercepted too easily.

Jay fell out of the chair when the phone materialized in front of him.

Quickly he recovered himself, thankful that no one was around to witness that embarrassing moment, and snatched the phone out of the air.

"Hello?" he asked as he put the device to his ear.

"Oh, wrong person. I'm looking for the Demo- for Archie, boy, put him on the line," Ares growled from the opposite end.

"Uh, okay…" Jay replied slowly. Since when did Mr. Ares stutter? And was he going to say Demonspawn? Hera had said that none of the gods would call Archie that… Ares probably slipped up or something, the gods couldn't be that harsh… could they?

Quickly Jay made his way into the living room and to the stair way. After hearing a bark that sounded remotely like 'move or else extra training' from the phone, Jay took the stairs two at a time.

He quickly got to Archie's room and rapped on the door three times, hearing a grunt for a reply inside he merely replied, "Phone."

The door opened as Archie gave him a quizzical look, "We don't have a phone, Jay," the half-demon stated.

Jay thrust the phone into Archie's chest, "Mr. Ares," he replied in a cool monotone, then turned and stalked away.

Demons were bad. Hero's were good. Demons were bad. Hero's were good.

Archie was… bad?

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"H-hello?" Archie slowly put the phone to his ear, half-expecting this to be a prank.

"Archie, uh, boy, I need you to come… here, to the school, for an errand- I have an errand for you to run, soon."

Archie stepped back into his room, glancing at the clock, "Ares," he said slowly, a little worried about how nervous Ares seemed, "it's, like, ten. Can't this wait till tomorrow?"

"No!" Ares' reply was sharp and loud, Archie winced and held the phone away from his ear.

"No, I mean, it has to be done tonight. Now. So hurry down, it won't take too long."

"Okay," Archie stretched out the word, wondering what was so important, "should I bring the others?"

"No, this task only needs your… abilities," Archie suddenly got the feeling Ares wasn't talking about his speed or agility, "so come as soon as you can."

"Fine," the warrior finally murmured, hitting _end call_ with his thumb before Ares could say anything else.

The phone in his hand vanished abruptly. Archie grabbed his hoodie and went to head downstairs, then on a second thought ran back into his room and strapped on his ankle brace, one brush with death was one too many for him. And this time there was no Tulais to save him. Archie's hands faltered as he thought of Tulais.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, then got up and headed downstairs.

"I've got an errand to run for Ares, I'll be back later!" he called, seeing Jay in the kitchen and Theresa, Herry and Odie coming up form downstairs.

"Be back before dark!" Herry teased as he raced out the door.

Archie stuck his tongue out at the taller teen before vanishing outside, and despite the light-hearted mood, he couldn't help but push away the feeling that something bad was about to happen.

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"So are you ready?"

"Yes, Hera, you need not be so anxious. I know what I must do. But I can't help but feel terrible about fighting so unfairly against the-"

"Poseidon, you've already failed once at killing the child. Back than he was just that, merely a babe and yet you tried to kill him. Now, prove yourself worthy of being the lord of the seas and be rid of the scourge once and for all. I really could care less how you kill him, just be done with it before the teens get suspicious."

Poseidon bowed his head, "As you wish, Hera. I will not fail you again."

Then he disappeared back into the waters which he commanded.

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Dun dun dun, next chapter!

Wow… I actually updated.

Anyways, forgive me for the long wait, but here it is nonetheless.

Hopefully this kind-of-filler chapter is enough to wet your appetites for now. So, Hera and Poseidon are up to something, Ares seems to be in on this, and so we can only imagine what's in store for Archie now.

And what's this? Theresa, Herry and Odie are holding secret meetings and seem to be figuring out something?

And Jay is being all poor and confused child, and scared. Because I had to make him somewhat human again before he just turned into a brick wall that only said: "Demons Bad!"

As for Atlanta… she was snuggling Archie's hoodie in her room… under her bed… so she didn't hear anything… I really don't know. She was just somewhere.

Anyways, reviews are appreciated.

Demenior


	3. Assassin

Rise of a Hero

Disclaimer: See chapter one

Warnings: See chapter one

Pairings: See chapter one

Authors Note: Not much, hope you enjoy.

Chapter 3: Assassin

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Archie shifted from foot to foot nervously. His ankle brace clanked reassuringly in the large spaces of the secret wing. His senses were on full alert now, Tulais also prowling his mind like a maintenance keeper and making sure everything was working far better then should be humanly possible. He swore he could even hear the walls whispering.

Taking his sweet time, Ares finally strolled out from behind a pillar. Archie jumped but stopped his shivering before the god came close. Ares was dressed in a simple white shirt, his normal battle-skirt, and a pair of fuzzy blue socks. Almost looked as if he'd raided Hercules's wardrobe.

"Poseidon wanted me to fix up his trident, so here you go. Take it down to the sea, where no one can see you, and call for him. He'll probably want to thank you or something," Ares shrugged, handing Archie a small, square package wrapped in brown paper. Archie stumbled for a moment, caught unaware of the package's weight.

"Now get a move on, I'm headin' back to my poker game," Ares muttered, and quickly shuffled away.

Archie sighed in relief and left the Secret Wing.

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Streetlights glared in his eyes and cars honked loudly as he drove through the streets. Held loosely between his legs was the package, and Archie was grumbling about having to be out when he'd much rather be bored at home. He turned off onto the smaller road that took him down to the ocean and parked his motorcycle in the parking lot. The waves crashed loudly on the shore, the sound sending shivers down his spine.

_Stupid sea-god needs his stupid trident fixed. Bet'cha Hephaestus doesn't make anyone do his errands for him_… Archie paused a moment.

"Why would Ares be fixing Poseidon's trident?" he wondered aloud. Still frowning, he plodded his way down to the ocean's edge, his hands were visibly shaking now and he was muttering curses at his stupid paranoia.

"Oi, Poseidon! I've got your trident!" he cried.

The waves continued rolling and smashing on the shore. There was no reply, no tell-tale whirlpool or fish tail. Archie starred at the black water and sighed exasperatedly.

"You've got to be kidding me!" he cried.

//Come on, Brat, get a move on.// Tulais muttered.

Archie took a deep breath and stepped forwards, flinching and pulling back when his foot met the icy water. Another bark from Tulais brought him inching into the water, bit by bit. He kept his eyes closed, shaking from cold (not fear, he did not get afraid… much) and was soon up to his knees in water.

"Poseidon!" he yelled again, hardly hearing himself over the ocean.

_"I am here" _he heard in his mind. Right then, something grabbed his feet and Archie was pulled under the water without a sound.

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Thetis gasped for breath, her body ached with fatigue and had she been above water, her eyes would have been tear-streaked from her speed and ready to close at any second. She'd been traveling for so long, stopping only when she collapsed into the seabed. She nervously fingered the pouch of ashes around her neck. What would she say to the gods? How could she convince the young boy, Archie, to come with her?

Something stirred on the edges of her sub-consciousness and she dove into the rocky crags of the ocean floor as she sensed Poseidon's power. A tunnel of water shot past, and she was thankful he hadn't detected her. Then something caught her eye, blue clothes, pale skin and… purple hair. Thetis flew from her hiding spot and shot after Archie.

The gods are going to kill him! She screamed inwardly.

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Archie came up gasping for breath, he pulled himself out of the water almost faster then he'd been pulled under.

"That wasn't funny Poseido-" he stopped as he saw what he was standing on.

Absolutely nothing.

Archie was standing on the surface of the water, drops falling from his body and splashing around his feet. The inky black water swirled and turned underneath him. Shivering he recalled that it had been Poseidon who had attacked him all those years ago. He'd almost died back then.

"Damn," Archie growled, but wasn't too sure if it really was his thought, looking around, "it's a trap."

Senses on high alert now, he threw down the stupid brown package and the wet paper tore as it hit the water's surface. It wasn't a trident at all, it was money. Money to pay for his execution!

"I am sorry I must kill you before your sin is committed, Demonspawn, but I will not allow you to destroy my kin," Poseidon said as he slithered up onto the surface.

"What? Sin? Destroy the gods? Look, Poseidon, I don't know why you all think I'm going to kill you- you're immortal! You can't be killed!" Archie shouted, dropping into his battle position and keeping his eyes locked on the god before him.

Poseidon twirled his gleaming trident in his hands, "It is in the prophecy, young one, and that is why you must die. We cannot risk any problems in our reign on earth."

"I'm not going to die!" Archie replied.

So there is more to the Prophecy, I knew it! He thought.

//Look out!// Tulais suddenly cried.

Archie leapt to the side so fast his train of thought had to take a second to catch up. Poseidon had swung his trident and nearly hit the spot where he'd been standing… or was it floating?

The god of the sea wasted no time in bringing his trident around again and creating large ripples in the surface they both were standing on. Archie reeled back and forth, trying to keep his balance. He ducked low as Poseidon swung at him again. Tulais was barking commands inside his mind, and Archie almost felt as if the demon within him was controlling most of his movements.

He could feel the heat of the battle coursing through his veins and his senses had been sharpened tenfold. If it weren't for the fact that his opponent was such a mighty god, he would have felt invincible.

The reality that he was a mortal fighting an immortal hit him at the same time as Poseidon's trident. Archie was flung backwards some paces and hit the water with a loud splash. A wave of spray rose up and showered over himself and the god who was slowly advancing.

He gasped as he reached to his chest and felt the warm blood dribbling out.

I'm going to die! I'm going to die! He screamed inwardly.

//Shut up, you twit! It's hardly a scratch!// Tulais snarled.

Archie felt like he'd been slammed in the chest and his body had gone into autopilot- or Tulais had taken control- because the next thing he knew he was dodging and ducking under numerous blows and swings.

"So the demon within you _has_ awakened!" Poseidon realized.

Archie wanted to tell him to shut up, but his voice instead said, "All in due time!"

What did that mean? He had no idea what his comeback had meant? Archie ducked under another blow, leaping backwards in the air. He felt the blades just skim under his head, and he twisted in the air and fell back onto his feet. The handle of the trident came at him and he only saw it though the corner of his eye. Archie grabbed control of his body and tried to duck under it, leaning back till he was going to nearly do a bridge-stand, but Tulais shoved him out of the way and took back his body and…

He caught it.

He caught the trident as it was going to hit him. And held it. Poseidon seemed just as surprised as Archie was.

"Damn you, Demonspawn, accept your fate! This night is your last," Poseidon hissed.

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Atlanta was perched on her chair, staring out the window in her dark room. She watched the trees in the distance jerk and whip around in the high winds. The city seemed to glow against the dark clouds in the sky. She shivered and pulled Archie's old hoodie tighter around herself. The fabric was smooth on her arms, like all of Archie's wearing had smoothed it down so it was rather soft, and not to mention warm.

Archie was out in that storm somewhere, and she wondered when he'd get back. He'd been gone for a while now, and was probably lost or stuck in traffic. She smiled; stupid Archie was making her get all worried. She shouldn't be, of course, he was an excellent warrior and could fight his way out of most situations, even without her help.

But in her room, in the back of her mind, Atlanta still worried.

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Okay, short chapter and a looong in-between update time.

But, regardless, hello chapter three of 'Rise of a Hero'.

Archie's now fighting for his life, Atlanta knows something's wrong… and the others are eating waffles. Or something like that.

And welcome back, Class of the Titans, to Teletoon. My life and weekends are complete now.

Anyways, hopefully this chapter 'll keep you guys happy for a while, and if it sounds all awkward and terrible, it's because I forced my way through this one. No inspiration at all!

Constructive-more-then-one-word-Reviews are most appreciated.

Demenior


	4. Webs

Rise of a Hero

Disclaimer: See chapter one

Warnings: See chapter one

Pairings: See chapter one

Authors Note: Hey… umm… don't kill me yet. I've been working on-and-off on other little things, never really finishing anything but I've got a few more ideas coming, and that 'Mind-Boggler' has gone into the writing stage, so I'm going to write and edit the whole thing so then I can have weekly updates for that one, and on the other hand, I should be coming out with some new one-shots any time now.

Chapter 4: Webs

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"_Damn you Demonspawn, accept your face! Tonight is your last!" Poseidon hissed_

Archie was still reeling in shock. He'd caught the trident. Poseidon's trident. With his own two hands!

The god snarled savagely and strained harder, trying to push him back. Archie held fast, the muscles in his arms and legs screaming in protest.

Archie shoved the trident away, leaping opposite from the direction he'd pushed it. Poseidon flew past, falling on his own momentum, and crashed into the water. Archie landed nimbly on the water's surface, alert and on his toes.

But… how did I do that? he wondered.

//Hush and pay attention!// Tulais growled.

Poseidon picked himself up, fuming and eyes narrowed. His tail whipped back and forth in the water, sending up a constant spray of water. He must have thought of something reassuring because he relaxed without warning.

"What am I getting into such a fuss about? You need balance to kill me and right now you are more demon then hero," he laughed, "you monster, how could anyone stand to be near such a beast? Come, try and kill me, I am immortal to your claws and fangs!"

Snarling, Archie lunged, and slashed at Poseidon's exposed chest. Only a few beads of blood appeared before the long cuts in the gods flesh closed and were no more. Archie's mind was racing, trying to figure out how he could escape, when he realized what he'd done. He'd cut Poseidon's skin with _claws_. With a gasp he looked down at his own hands, and starred in horror at his long, thick, curved fingernails. Black and sharp like claws. Just this morning they'd been chewed short and pink!

Tulais grabbed control of him and he leapt out of the way as Poseidon attacked him again. His senses were strained; he could hear blood rushing through his ears and adrenaline coursed through his veins. Archie rushed the god again, ducking, twisting and turning as he avoided any deadly blow, and slashed the sea god along the face with his claws. He felt a grim satisfaction from that. Finally getting back at the gods after all the stress and anxiety he'd gone through because of them.

Archie leapt back, clearing the air between him and the tridents' deadly tips by millimeters. He landed on his feet and faced the god. Poseidon moved slowly, the cuts on his face healing just the same as the ones on his chest had before. The god laughed.

"You fool! You will die tonight, no matter how hard you struggle. Give up and I will make it fast and painless," Poseidon called.

Archie was shaking. No weapon; stranded in the middle of the ocean, fighting a god, his ancestors voice still barking in his head, good lord! He was going to die as a crazy, panic-stricken idiot!

//We can't win without a weapon, brat!// Tulais cried.

I know! I know! But we're in the middle of the ocean, and there aren't _any_ weapons around! We're going to die! We're going to die! Archie felt too panicked to realize he was referring to himself and the voice in his head as two different beings.

He threw himself to the water. The trident took off the tips of his cowlicks and he landed face first. Coughing and spitting out water, he scrambled to his feet. There was a buzz in the water under his feet. Tulais was noticing that, he realized, not him. He was too focused on Poseidon to think about anything else.

//Move!// Tulais howled, taking control of Archie's mind so quickly the world was spinning. In front of him, a column of water shot up into the night sky. Archie had the sinking feeling if he'd been standing there, there suddenly would have been two of him.

He flipped himself onto all fours. Crouched and poised, a thought in the back of his mind told him he must look like an animal. Black claws sunk into the waters surface, teeth barred and on all fours. If he'd had a tail, it would probably be lashing. Poseidon had one hand outstretched before him and is eyes were narrowed into slits. Archie, he was sure it was himself this time, felt the water buzz under his feet. He sprang forwards and dashed at the god.

He didn't have much time to notice the buzz as he set a hand down, but the next instant Tulais had him launching sideways, and the water column erupted right a his side. It left a clean cut in the side of his hoodie. He came down, hands first and pushed forwards at the god.

\\True, you have no weapons, Brat. But the god does. The god has a weapon. And when your opponent is armed and you are not…\\

Neutralize him by taking control of it Archie finished, remembering Artemis's lesson from a while ago, but how am I supposed to steal a weapon from a god?

He brought his foot in just as the water-knife burst up. His sandal went flying and sunk under the water, the straps cut and his foot was bleeding. The water shot skywards in front of him and he didn't have much time to pull back and almost lost his nose. He found himself behind herded away from the god. He was turning and twisting and diving to escape the deadly water. Water could cut through almost anything, and flesh was rather soft.

"Die you animal! Stay still and I will slit your throat! You cannot beat me you fool!" Poseidon shouted at him. Part of Archie, the part that was exhausted and sick of being afraid, wanted to stop. But both himself and Tulais forced those thoughts deep, deep down. One step at a time. That was all he had time to think on. Take control of the trident, and then… then he'd make up his next plan. But if he had something to work towards, to set his mind on, then he could not be defeated. He couldn't die, not yet.

He made a mad dash at Poseidon, snarling like a wolf. The water bubbled under his feet and he pressed harder. Poseidon's eyes widened as Archie's claws curled around the long, golden handle of the trident and Archie himself was impressed he wasn't dead yet.

He twisted, nearly yanking the trident out of the gods' hands. Poseidon writhed, jerking away and Archie was almost sent flying. It was only his death-grip on the trident that saved him and he was flipped around to the other side. He only missed getting hit by Poseidon's tail. Poseidon was shouting at him and Archie was vaguely awake that his lips were peeled back and he was snarling like the animal Poseidon considered him. There were thoughts in his mind, that were not his. He could see though, so vividly, his muzzle going for the exposed throat and tearing it out. It was like looking through two different lenses. One showed his own battle, through his own, human eyes. And the other showed the battle through the eyes of a predator. A demon.

"Demon!" Poseidon screamed, and whirled the trident around so fast that Archie was sent hurtling through the sky. He heard the water through senses stronger then his own. He twisted, arching his back and kicking his legs out as he used his arms to twist. The water tore open the back of his hoodie and skinned his back. And howled as he fell down to the water.

Only this time, it didn't hold him up; he'd overshot the area Poseidon had set up as the battleground. And Archie plunged down into the dark depths of the ocean.

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Atlanta shivered despite Archie's hoodie around her shoulders. It was chilly in her room, and there was a storm brewing outside. The wind was already starting to moan and the thunder and lightning was moving in from over the ocean. Where was Archie? It was really late now. She was forcing herself to stay awake, until he got back at least. Just so she'd know he was home safely.

The wind threw her window open, and started shrieking and throwing her mess of papers and notes and homework into the air. She sprang off her bed, clutching the worn blue hoodie tightly around her, and slammed the window closed. It was so cold! She sure hoped Archie got home soon.

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Jay was pacing in the living room. Theresa and Herry were on the couch while Odie had gone back to his room downstairs.

"He-he should be back by now. Something must have happened or he'd have called. I don't like him out in this storm!" the leader was grumbling to himself.

Theresa shared a glance with Herry and the both of them sighed.

"Jay, just calm down. He took his bike, so he probably stopped off to hide from the rain at the library or something, or maybe he's back at the school. Besides, you know what an idiot Archie can be, he probably forgot to call- that's all," Theresa tried to soothe the teen. Jay shook his head.

"Archie… Archie's pretty smart about that stuff. He… he'd call," Jay stopped, looking thoughtfully at his feet for a moment, "that's it. I'm going to find him."

Before either Herry or Theresa could grab him, Jay was at the door throwing on his shoes and a jacket. He threw open the door, and stopped dead in his tracks.

Athena and Hera were standing on the doorstep. Both were still calm, and even without psychic powers, Jay could sense sadness in the air.

"Jay, call the others down, we need to talk," Hera said solemnly.

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There were nervous face all around. Odie dashed up from downstairs and slunk in slowly, noting the air of tension. He sat down beside Herry. Atlanta still had Archie's hoodie on, and pretended she didn't feel like the two goddesses had glared at her, or rather the hoodie, when she'd walked in. But that was a silly thought, and besides, a feeling of dread had formed in her belly as soon as she realized this was a serious meeting- with no Archie. Something was wrong.

"Children, you know that when we brought you here, to the school and to fight Cronus, it was because we knew that it was your teamwork that would defeat Cronus. You are all in your prime and ready for battle- and for anything that may come along the way."

They all moved slightly in their seats. The conversation, without anyone saying or display so, had taken an obvious turn for the worse. Athena moved behind the couch, lifting a hand as if to place it on someone's shoulder, but then decided against it.

Hera continued, "As we know, there must be seven to defeat Cronus. He has shown up again tonight," and as they all made to leap to their feet, she held up a hand and they sat back down, but didn't relax, "you are all aware Archie left for an errand for Ares earlier, no?"

They all nodded quietly, eyes focused on the Queen of the Gods.

Hera's face remained entirely calm, almost emotionless, "He was sent to deliver a package to Poseidon, but he was growing late. Poseidon contacted me and told me the boy still had not arrived-"

"Well, that's not unlike Archie to be tardy," Odie commented. Both Hera and Athena glared at him for interrupting. He shrank back into the couch and stayed quiet.

"Poseidon just contacted me again, and he has news…" and had Atlanta's mind not been destroyed by Hera's next words, she would have thought there was an air of satisfaction in the goddesses words,

"Archie is dead."

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There we go, I'm back!

These early chapters just do **not** want to be written. Hopefully it'll start flowing out smoothly soon, that's all that's keeping me from updating a lot more often.

So… what do you think? Is Archie really dead, or is Hera jumping the gun? Why is she trying to have him killed in the first place- mortals cannot kill gods!? Gods can't be killed! And what was going on with Archie- he was getting a little rabid/Tulais-like out there. What did Poseidon mean by 'You're more demon then hero now…'?

Stuff to think about until next time.

Demenior


	5. Achilles

Rise of a Hero

Disclaimer: See chapter one

Warnings: See chapter one

Pairings: See chapter one

Authors Note//cough// It's Tulais's official _birthday-of-creation_ on the 19th. Happy birthday you silly purple goat-horned wolf-thing.

Chapter 5: Achilles

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"_Archie is dead."_

Some sort of sob started in Atlanta's throat, but stopped and clogged her airways until she could only make a choking sound. She stared at the goddess; her mind was blank, trying to gather _some_ sort of reaction. Some thought. Some emotion, but there was _no_ true emotion for this kind of news. She choked again, and that was when she realized she wanted to cry.

Atlanta never cried. Over anything.

"You're lying!" she screamed. Hera hardly looked amused at being called a liar.

She was still choking as she found herself on her feet, and she turned and dashed up the stairs to somewhere, somewhere where this news wasn't true. Somewhere where she'd be that Archie wasn't actually… actually…

_Dead._

And her strength failed and she started sobbing as she stumbled into Archie's room.

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He clawed and scrambled and tried to grab the air. But it was always just out of reach. There was water all around him, hooked around his ankles, and it was pulling him deeper, deeper. Further away from air. From life. Archie was screaming inside, he was fighting everything except basic survival to struggle for the surface. Not even Tulais could get a thought in.

He was so deep he could only tell which way was up by which way the bubbles of air that left his lips went. Archie wasn't sure if he really was crying or not. His struggling increased as his lungs started burning, and he was thrashing wildly. It only grew worse until he couldn't take it. He wasn't getting anywhere. There was no air, no life, nothing for him. And so he screamed, and he hoped someone might at least hear him. Might know that he died at sea. Might be able to tell his friends.

_I'm so sorry Atlanta_

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"I… I should…. I should have had a vision! Why didn't I See anything?" Theresa stammered. Her voice was cracking, and she was shaking. Neil wrapped a comforting arm around her, though he himself was shaking, but still resisted the urge to sneer at Jay over Theresa's shoulder.

"W-Where'd the body?" Jay whispered. He was fighting to keep his shoulders straight and not break down like his team was. It was a fight to keep standing, facing Hera. Archie may have been half demon… but he was still a friend, still a team mate.

Hera sighed, almost as if in relief, and let her shoulders droop, "I'm not sure at the moment. Poseidon only had time to inform me that he saw Cronus kill Archie on the shore. I do not know what happened from there, but I suspect Poseidon will have to fight to retrieve Archie's body from Cronus."

Jay's eyes widened and the sobs around him stopped, "We have to go help!" Herry shouted.

Hera held up a hand, "I'm afraid there's no point. In your current states, you'll do more harm than good," she looked into Jay's eyes and smiled in what he was sure was sympathy, but it looked slightly pleased, "besides, it is only his body now. His soul is in the Underworld, headed for the Elysian Fields. There is no need to cry for him- you will all be together again, in time."

Jay fell back into the couch. Part of him knew Hera was right, and part of him wanted to shove Neil away and wrap his arms tightly around Theresa. And a final bit of him knew his team needed him more then he wanted to hold the psychic.

"You should probably bring Atlanta back," Hera said quietly, to no one in particular. She was looking up the stairs.

"No," Odie replied, loud enough that everyone could hear him, "we should leave her be for a while. She and Archie were best friends; she's going to be hurting for a while."

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Salt stung open wounds. Badly. That was the only way he realized he was still alive. That was when he realized that the pressure on his face wasn't water. They were fingers. Archie forced his eyes open and saw a very familiar face. That woman, who had been there when he'd been attacked as a child! Tulais's memory forced its way in.

"Thetis?" Archie whispered. When bubbles escaped past his lips, he was shocked to realize he was still underwater. He was breathing… underwater, but he was alive.

She held a finger to her full lips, and she was smiling in relief. She looked around quickly and that was when Archie realized they were at the bottom of the ocean, hidden in the rocks and coral. She seemed satisfied that whatever she was looking for wasn't there.

"Oh Archie, it is good to see you again," she smiled. He wondered how on earth she remembered his name, "I'm sorry- I was almost too late to save you. But I… I brought something that will help."

She pulled off a necklace that had a pouch tied onto it. She held it to herself before pressing it into his hands, "This will complete you. The gods thought there was no way for… for _him_ to remain, after all these years. But the oracle said it would happen, so they cannot stop it." She was talking more to herself. Archie had no idea what she was going on about. He was realizing he was alive because of her.

"Poseidon?" he finally whispered, taking the pouch. He was curious as to why the gods didn't want him having this pouch.

She looked around again, to be sure there was nothing around them, "He is still looking for you. He didn't see me when I grabbed you and hid you away. But now you must go back and fight him, Archie, for now you can defeat him."

Archie stared at her, "Are you insane? He's a _god_, I'm a _mortal_!" Archie was actually the insane one at that, "and he wants me dead! The gods want me dead because of who my ancestor was! He was a demon- why are you helping me?" He wasn't sure where he was going with that rant. But she was crazier then he, not Tulais, remembered her if she thought he was going to go back and fight Poseidon again.

Thetis looked him in the eyes, and her hair was spread out and wavy due to them being underwater and it made her look bigger then him, "That pouch contains some of the ashes of my son. It will help you balance, as I can see you are embracing Tulais's bloodline too openly. With Achilles' balance, the prophecy can begin and you can defeat the gods."

"What prophec- _defeat_ the _gods_?" Archie stammered. He was about to ask more, when Tulais shouted in his mind. On reflex, Archie shoved Thetis away, and propelled himself backwards as Poseidon's trident hurtled into the sand where the two of them had just been floating.

The cloud of sand that followed made it impossible to see. Tulais was snarling and Archie was trying to look for Poseidon while trying to keep sand out of his eyes. He still had one hand tightly locked around the pouch. Achilles' ashes. Archie shivered. That was kinda… gross.

Tulais made him move out of the way as the trident came within inches of slitting his throat. Archie shrieked, despite himself, and tried to swim away. He had no idea how to swim, though, and barely managed to go anywhere. Tulais was not much help, as he only knew the doggie paddle. Which wasn't very fast.

_I can't believe I'm going to die for not knowing the breast stroke. Who dies from lack of breast stroke?_ Archie was kicking and flailing, trying to swim, and thankfully the sand in the water kept him fairly safe still. Poseidon would probably die laughing if he ever saw him anyways.

Thetis came from underneath him and grabbed his hand. She narrowed her eyes at him, almost in disgust, "Can't you swim?" she asked in disbelief, "you could when I first met you."

"_How Are You Still Alive?"_ Poseidon bellowed from the sandy waters. Archie flinched. He realized he still had an iron grip on the necklace and it was hard to swim with a hand and a fist.

//Idiot// Tulais muttered. _Shut up_, Archie replied just as curtly. Thetis helped pull him along as he slipped the necklace over his head and tucked it into his hoodie. Almost immediately he wished he hadn't.

He felt something, like the Tulais in his mind, surface inside of him. Archie realized he was no crazier than before.

\\It is the prophecy now, isn't it? \\ a _new_ voice said inside his mind. Both Archie and Tulais recognized this one; Archie only knew it from those dreams a long while back.

_Achilles?_

\\Yes?\\

_Tulais?_

//What?//

_Oh my god. I've lost it._ Archie tried to slap himself out of his insanity, but both voices were there to say. And disturbingly, Achilles knew how to swim. So Thetis seemed to know what had happened the moment he started swimming beside her, on his own, and she smiled at him. Archie, on the other hand, wanted to retreat into a corner and ram his head against a wall until he was the only voice in his head.

"Poseidon is still searching for you, you can catch him off guard now," Thetis hissed to him. Archie squinted back through the clearing silt, and he was starting to be able to see Poseidon's form in the water. Very soon they would be visible as well.

It seemed to him that both Tulais and Achilles wanted to die. Archie was about to turn tail and swim away as fast as Achilles knew how, because he couldn't _defeat_ Poseidon, but **both** voices took control of him and he swam head-on towards the god of the sea.

Colliding with Poseidon was like tackling a mountain. Did not work. Thanks to his surprise attack though, Poseidon was knocked off-balance. As off-balance as you could be underwater. Archie darted away to where he couldn't be seen. Poseidon roared in rage, and Archie could swear the water around them started heating. He rushed Poseidon again, shouting in his mind at Achilles and Tulais and telling them what idiots they were. They were laughing. He was insane, the voices in his head were insane and wanted to die, and here he was, breathing and swimming underwater like a fish fighting the god of the sea.

The trident gleamed before his eyes. Achilles swerved him just enough to miss impaling himself on it. Poseidon swung at him with his tail. Archie spun around it. Achilles was _enjoying_ this. This was a game to him.

"Give up, god, the prophecy has come to pass!" Achilles shouted at Poseidon. Archie wanted to clap his hands over his mouth. Why was he saying all this crazy stuff? There really was no question there, but why was he crazy _now_?

Achilles swam him away as Poseidon gave chase. They flew down in between the rocks and coral. The water grew hotter. Poseidon was completely livid and red to match. Without warning Achilles put on the brakes and shot up, up and up. _Am I a dolphin now?_ Archie shouted.

//Shut up, Brat!// Tulais snarled. They were gaining speed, Archie was actually squinting to see and he was sure his eyes were actually watering. Both Achilles and Tulais seemed to feel it behind them, Poseidon falling behind, and in his rage throwing his trident. They were too close to the surface to turn. If they dodged the trident, Poseidon was right behind it to snatch them!

When he flew out of the water, he sure felt like a dolphin. And nearly right on his heels was the trident, and Archie knew his fall was going to slow, and those sharp points were going to keep on going. Right through him. They began to slow. Tulais and Achilles were quiet. They must've abandoned him right before he died. The trident grew close, and Archie tried to turn away. There was Poseidon, erupting out of the water. Archie couldn't move his own body! Tulais suddenly kicked out, spinning the trident. Achilles grabbed it, and it was now facing Poseidon's rising form.

"You cannot kill a god!" Poseidon laughed.

There was a strange sense of unison between the three of them. Neither had more control over the body than the other. Something strong, which they all actually recognized as powerful, ancient magic coursed through them. It was sweet, beyond belief, and within seconds of channeling it Archie wanted to throw up. A moment later, it was so sweet, so much pleasure, it was _painful_.

And it wasn't only him that felt it, all three of them did. And they cried out as one, and Poseidon's rage suddenly turned to fear. And as the god of the sea rose out of the water, the godslay'r above him came down and plunged his own trident into his chest. All was silhouetted by the full moon.

Archie's world went blindingly white, and the agony in his veins intensified until he couldn't feel anything _but_ that sweet, sweet pain. Achilles and Tulais, both suffering, retreated into the depths of his mind, and the pain went with them. Archie was numb, and he found himself sinking again. He was so tired. The trident was still in his hands. Poseidon didn't recover from the attack like before. He was so tired. Someone called his name and he felt hands on his shoulders.

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Archie coughed and spluttered as he rid his lungs of water. Thetis helped him crawl out of the water. He couldn't stand. The sand was painfully cold in the early morning, and it stung his hands almost as much as the light was burning his eyes. Thetis was coughing up water, but she seemed to do _everything_ gracefully.

"Rest now, Archie, I will protect you. You can recover and then we can move on. You are safe now," she whispered soothingly, and she patted his head.

He wanted to go to sleep. He wanted to curl up under his blankets and wait for the monsters to go away. He was still clutching the trident in one hand. He'd _killed_ one of those monsters. The others wouldn't avoid him because he was under the blankets; they'd follow him under. He wasn't safe. He was so tired, his eyelids drooped. Just a quick nap, that's all he wanted.

"There's too much to do," he heard himself croak, "help me up. Nowhere is safe for me anymore."

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Poseidon is dead. The prophecy has begun.

So is Archie _really_ crazy, or do the voices in his head have to do with more then he realizes? What's going to happen with the others- they all think he's dead! And the gods, how will they react when they find Poseidon? What's going to happen next? What can Archie do now? What was that magic Archie felt- the sweet-pain one? Was it the power of teamwork or cooperation? Or something more? How was Archie able to kill Poseidon anyways? That should be impossible- no matter what he attacks with or where he strikes!

And… this battle was fairly clean compared to the fights coming up. If _this_ fight made you squeamish, then I suggest you stop reading. They tend to get uglier as time goes on.

Stay tuned. With Poseidon out of the way, I think I can update sooner.

Be warned though, school and life can compromise that fact.

Thank you for reading!

-Demenior

p.s. Guys, another DVD is comming out! Next three episodes! May 20th//fangirl shriek//


	6. Prophecy

Rise of a Hero

Rise of a Hero

Disclaimer: See chapter one

Warnings: See chapter one

Pairings: See chapter one

Authors Note: Tulais is officially 3 years old as of Wednesday the 19th! And the prophecy returns. 

Chapter 6: Prophecy

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Archie pushed the sunglasses up his nose nervously. He was trying to keep himself from shaking and pushed them a tad too hard into his face. It kept him awake for the next few minutes. Thankfully, after that bad _storm_ last night, it had been chilly enough for it to be acceptable to be wearing a hood up while walking around. He looked around nervously; checking his peripherals to be sure no one was coming too close, or looking at them too long.

Thetis was sitting across from him in the booth, holding her tea calmly. For some reason she hadn't seemed agitated at all. Then again, she wasn't hearing the voices of her ancestors in her head, wasn't the one that had… had… _killed_ a god. Archie realized he'd crushed his coffee in his hands. He could feel the hot liquid on his skin, but it wasn't only him who could feel it. The sensation of the other two minds nearly made him growl, but he suppressed the urge and instead grabbed the napkins Thetis was holding out with a mumbled thanks.

He'd wanted to find somewhere to hide and rest, but Thetis had a valid point. The gods would be waiting for news, and when Poseidon didn't return, they would be at the Oracle demanding answers. He'd hardly been able to walk straight, let alone run for his life again. Thetis had found them some new clothes and they'd made their way into the city. They didn't have much time, but Archie had nearly passed out before they stopped at this small café. The coffee was his fourth in the past hour. He clenched his fists to keep them from shaking too obviously.

"Let's go," Archie said, hoping it didn't sound as much of a growl as he thought it did. It was past dawn, around the time when normal mortals were getting up to head off for work. Archie pulled his hood tighter around his face and checked to be sure his hair wasn't showing. Anyone the gods saw with purple hair was probably as good as dead.

The ground swayed as he stood up and he almost doubled over and vomited. Even this early, early morning light was still burning his eyes and it felt like it was beyond freezing. The _others_ in his mind had already drawn their conclusions that it was that intense light, along with the pain- Archie tensed at the memory of the agony- that was causing his hypersensitivity. The cars on the road were thundering in his ears and he wanted to snarl at them.

Thetis paid at the counter and almost literally danced outside to stand beside him. She seemed horrible carefree, so much that it irritated Archie to no end (then again, everything since mostly getting over the initial shock of defeating a god made him angry) but he knew that she understood what was going on- she had been the one to save his life after all. 

They made their way through the sparse groups and clusters of people silently. The clouds overhead were dark grey, breaking the new-morning light and they threatened to pour at any moment. Perfect setting for his life right now.

His… voices were patrolling his mind- if that was the right way to explain it- he was aware of everything at once, without thinking. He wasn't the one making his ears catch every single sound or his eyes every detail- though being sensitive to every little thing helped- but it wasn't _his_ consciousness analyzing everything and understanding it all. 

Some man still waking-up accidentally hit his shoulder against Archie's arm as he passed. Archie bit back a string of curses as pain coursed through his body. It felt like something had torn open his arm. He glanced down briefly to be sure it wasn't bleeding. He knew for a fact he couldn't fight like this.

The turned the corner onto the street where the Oracle resided. Archie's stomach was filled with knots and butterflies. He felt weaker than before. What could the prophecy be that had everyone so tense… and trying to kill him?

Archie looked up, focusing on the Oracle's booth, and he felt like a cold hand stopped his heart. 

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Hera was pacing in her room. She continually looked up at the light strengthening outside. The clouds obscured the sunrise, so she couldn't tell what time it was that way. When was Poseidon going to return with the news of the Demonspawns' death? He was either toying with him now, or sulking about killing an innocent. Fool. The Godslay'r would have destroyed them all had she not taken action. 

Poseidon was an old man who was trying to stick to 'honorable' ways. What did the destroyer of gods care for honor? He had none. Not to mention a lack of respect.

Now there was the task of finding a new descendant to fill the open place on the group of seven mortals. Medea's girl would do nicely. She'd send Jay and the other mortals off once they stopped sobbing over that monster. Mortals and their emotions, Hera snorted, she still had no idea how they'd bonded to the Demonspawn so strongly. And the demon-lover… _Atlanta_… if she continued in her current state, Hera might have to find another descendant. No matter, it was only a small complication after the main enemy was finished. 

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"Atlanta? Are you- how are you?" Theresa called. She knocked on the door to Archie's room, biting her lower lip.

"G-go away, Theresa!" came the sob.

"A-alright, 'Lan. W-we're all d-downstairs, o-okay?" Theresa called back, pulling away from the door. Jay was coming up the stairs and looked between her and the closed door and seemed to understand.

"She's been in there all night," Theresa whispered. Jay was quiet. They'd all slept downstairs, but Atlanta had refused to leave Archie's room.

Silently the two of them turned to head back to the others. On the way down, Theresa paused.

"Jay… I know that A-Archie and Atlanta were b-best friends… b-but she's hurting so much," Theresa looked over her shoulder as if expecting Atlanta to appear at the top of the stairs, "I-I think they… were… d-dating." Jay stared at her in disbelief, as if he couldn't understand the signs that had been there. Theresa shrugged half-heartedly, "that's what I think," she said quietly and headed back down the stairs. Jay put a warm hand on her shoulder and pulled her into a comforting hug as she let herself cry again. 

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The Oracle smiled as Archie and Thetis approached. 

"Welcome, Archie, and Thetis. I'm glad you've finally arrived."

Normally Archie was unnerved by the Oracle's powers, but he was far too focused on the _other_ visitor. Cronus whipped around at the Oracle's greeting and his red eyes widened in surprise. Archie barred his teeth and felt a low growl deep in his chest.

"You're still _alive_?" Cronus' voice had a sincere note of disbelief, "I thought Poseidon killed you last night." 

Achilles and Tulais registered Cronus's words and Archie's eyes flew open at the concept, "You… knew?" 

Cronus chuckled, "My boy, you'll find there are a lot of things I know that your mortals do not."

"How?" Archie wasn't sure if it was him asking the questions.

Cronus smiled, "Hera keeps me well informed. I was to keep up the charade that I was the one who killed you- even though I failed last time thanks to your annoying ancestor-"

Tulais threw himself so hard into control that when he narrowed Archie's eyes and snarled so suddenly, Archie's heart skipped a beat. Archie had the deepest feeling that his pupils had contracted and his eyes had probably turned red. They tended to do that when he got angry very quickly like this. 

_Hera has been in contact with Cronus… _several_ times?!_ Archie realized.

"Had you not run away so soon, I would have torn off the smug grin," Tulais snarled through Archie's mouth. Cronus looked taken aback, then narrowed his eyes and looked at Archie with a face that meant he was _looking_ for something. A sign that Archie had lost it? Most definitely. 

"You know why I'm here, oracle. Tell me why the gods want me dead- what is this prophecy everyone's talking about?" Archie moved his face, but instinct- not the _others_, he told himself- kept his eyes locked on Cronus'.

The Oracle took a sip of his streaming coffee and sighed, relaxing his shoulders, "It's been a while since anyone asked me about that one. Most everyone tries to pretend I never said it," he chuckled and it sounded dark to Archie's ears, "but you can't quite forget when I predict the future. It's already started and the gods are a step behind." He took off his glasses, wiping them on his ragged coat which was probably older then Archie, "you want to know why the gods want you dead? Here is the prophecy, Godslay'r, heed its meanings wisely," and he cleared his voice and spoke in a low voice,

"_The son of Thetis,_

_The sea-fairing nymph,_

_And of Peleus, _

_The love struck young twit,_

_Will join with Tulais,_

_Son of the violet hair,_

_And rally and army of heroes,_

_To fight the almighty, they dare._

_To revolt the gods,_

_Those on a higher stage,_

_Much Time will be needed,_

_To re-begin the First Age._

_Each god must fall,_

_Those kind, cruel and fair,_

_By the allies hard bronze,_

_Now called 'Demonspawn' and 'Godslayer'._

_Immortal blood burning,_

_Returned to the source,_

_Restoring what was,_

_To bring another Lord forth. _

_The joined pair,_

_Shall thwart even Time,_

_And fight the Heavens, they must,_

_For Earth to survive._

_Then the true King shall come,_

_Once the Immortals are gone,_

_With his bright, tranquil Queen,_

_To thank their chosen one. _

_So many years later,_

_Offspring of seven heroes well known,_

_Must fight together,_

_For the heir to the throne."_

The Oracle settled back onto his stool and Archie stood dumfounded on the spot. The prophecy said he'd spill _all_ of the immortals' blood, and return the true king of the world. He would have to survive- to _live_ for that to happen. He wasn't going to die! A wave of fatigue hit him in the place of relief and he nearly swayed on his feet. But he refused to show weakness in front of Cronus.

"Th-that last part… that's the one Hera told us. The one that prophesized we would defeat Cronus," he said slowly, eyeing the titan warily. 

"It seems my daughter is a bit more conniving than any of us believed. I'm quite proud, actually," Cronus chuckled. Archie _and_ the _others_ seemed to think it sounded slightly forced, "she just used the last part in an attempt to fulfill the prophecy without actually losing any of her siblings- and she'd have you killed as soon as I was 'defeated' once again."

Archie felt another growl in his throat, only started, but he pushed it down, "S-so I'm supposed to _kill_ the gods?"

"Well," the Oracle shrugged, "it says you must return the immortal blood to its source. Death seems to be the only way."

Achilles spoke before Archie could, "Then you do not know the future? You do not know of any other ways?"

With another sigh the Oracle shook his head, "Yours is one future I cannot predict properly, Godslay'r. There are too many chances, too many turns. And there is something I must warn you of. This was not part of the prophecy, but it is still part of your destiny."

Archie gulped as the Oracle paused- for dramatic effect Archie believed until the strange being took another sip of his coffee to wet his throat.

"You _can_ die, Demonspawn, you can fail this prophecy but I do not know if this ruins the entire world. There are too many possibilities to judge properly. But Hera is out to kill you- and if you are not careful she _will_ kill you. The only thing that may hold her back is angering the True King of the world. You are like his messenger, Archie, and I do not think he would appreciate having you killed." Archie hadn't realized he was shaking until now. He still wasn't safe. Nowhere was safe. He was just so tired. The ground was starting to feel like it was tipping, but he fought to stay awake.

"Then who is this _True King_ that I need to protect?" he growled.

The Oracle shrugged, "I have my ideas, as does everyone else. He will tell you who he is when he feels like it."

Archie nearly groaned. It was like the last time he'd visited the Oracle, nothing but riddles and more questions.

"We need somewhere to go, Oracle. Where is it safe for us to stay while the gods hunt for us?" Thetis asked, always so calm and beautiful.

The Oracle grinned and sat his glasses back upon his long nose, "That you don't even need me for, really. There is an interesting story behind how Cronus escaped Tarterus- even though he was supposed to spend an eternity there, but his freedom would be at an end when you are destroyed, Archie, and so believe it or not, but the master of time is dependant upon you for his own independence. I don't think it would be too hard for Cronus to spare an extra room or two?"

Archie was sure his and Cronus' faces mirrored each others. 

"What?" the both cried at the same time. Several heads turned in their direction.

"Right now you are both in need of one another. Cronus, if you wish to remain free you will help keep Archie alive, and Archie if you wish for somewhere safe, Cronus' lair is the only place for you to hide. And you had better get going, Hera will be arriving soon and Archie is going to collapse in a few moments."

Archie faltered as Cronus glared at him, was his fatigue really that obvious? Thetis' gentle hand fell on his shoulder and he bit his lip to keep from wincing in pain. It still hurt to be touched.

His stomach dropped out of his belly at the thought of Hera arriving and finding him there. 

"We need to go," he ordered, and he didn't know if it was at Thetis or her and Cronus. Archie tried to take a step on his own and his legs buckled underneath him. The world was spinning and the horribly loud sounds were coming in and out of focus. His vision was dimming. Thetis caught him and hoisted one of his arms around her narrow shoulders and she led him behind Cronus into the alleys where no one would see them slip away.

The Oracle's voice came to him clearly through the growing silence, "Remember my warnings, Godslay'r. _Trust wisely_, _have deep faith_- this battle has only begun. Killing a god is no easy task for a mortal and it is taking a toll on your body. You need allies to protect you while you fight. Every move you make could lead to your death or your victory. Step lightly- but don't be too afraid. Demonspawn tend to be difficult to get rid of."

That last part seemed to come as a laugh. But Archie heard no more because he was being dragged through a portal, an opening in the air that brought them into a dark, damp place that smelled of minerals and sweat and he couldn't see anything anymore and his senses shut off one by one as he passed into unconsciousness in Cronus' lair.

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There will be more explanations in the next chapter, from Cronus of all people.

So, anyone see this coming? Will Archie be able to accept Cronus' help- or will their long-standing feud prove too much and there will be another fight? And what is Cronus's story, anyways? The Oracle brought up a few good points- like just how Cronus was able to escape the most horrible prison in _ever_? 

And how about Archie, is he going to be okay? He's hearing his ancestors' voices in his head and can't even control himself sometimes! I think I'd be terrified if that happened to me.

And Theresa is cluing into something, Hera's plotting and Atlanta and the rest of the gang are still mourning. Poor kids.

-Demenior


	7. Characteristics

There was the sense of someone beside him

Rise of a Hero

Disclaimer: See chapter one

Warnings: See chapter one

Pairings: See chapter one

Authors Note: This chapter was written amazingly fast compared to the previous ones. I think RH is finally co-operating with me again.

Chapter 7: Characteristics

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There was the sense of someone beside him. He heard the rustle of paper as a page turned and it was so loud it was like a roar in his ears. Opening his eyes, he found that the lights were all off- save a single, small candle burning on the other side of the person reading beside him- which made it less painful, but the dim light from the candle was making him wince. The person noticed he was awake.

"Good evening my boy," the man said in a soft, low voice. It hurt his ears, but he forced himself to focus on the man's face. Archie found himself staring directly into Cronus's red eyes.

The Titan made a 'tsk-tsk' sound as Archie tried to leap away. His mind whirled around him as he sat up and the room started spinning. He was going to throw up. His head, his _mind_, was so sore he almost whimpered as he collapsed back into the bed he was laying in.

"You're hardy well enough to get around yet, boy. It's only been two days since we visited the Oracle. Hardly enough time for a mortal, even one such as yourself, to recover from killing a god." Cronus closed his book and Archie winced at the thunderous boom he heard.

Cronus leaned over him and he tried to pull away, and realized his lips had pulled back in a snarl and he was growling from deep inside his chest. Cronus chuckled at that and placed a large hand on his forehead.

"You really are his descendant," the Titan settled back into his chair, "now don't give me that look, boy. If we have to work together then you're going to have to understand I'm not the one you should be worried about. The Oracle said, after all, my fate and yours are intertwined."

Archie narrowed his eyes, letting the growl quiet. He wasn't snarling anymore, but he was still frowning at Cronus's presence. There was a strange scent about the Titan, something he'd never noticed before. It smelt… _old_, and _clean_. Almost _pure_. He couldn't tell what it was, but it was almost sickly sweet to his nose, but it was pleasant compared to the damp, salty smells around them.

"That's why I've been waiting for you to wake up," Cronus went on, "as there's a lot you don't know that I need to teach you if you're going to have a chance to fufill your destiny…" he stopped and looked Archie over, "but you're too tired now. Sleep some more and I'll wait. Once you can stay awake longer we'll talk, and we'll talk for a good long while…"

Cronus's low voice was the last sound Archie heard as everything blended back into sleep.

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He was sitting up now. His head was a little sore still, but he felt a lot stronger than he had before. He'd thought himself well enough to get up and walk, but apparently Thetis thought otherwise. She insisted on mothering him and he was letting her get away with it for now. She had saved his life and he couldn't lose her support now. She held up another spoonful of the mash she'd concocted and he opened his mouth obediently as she spoon-fed him. It was embarrassing, but at least no one else knew about it. She'd just finished wiping off all the food on his face- something he'd tried to do but she'd slapped his hand away and insisted she do it- with her soft, smooth hands, when there were three rapt knocks on the door.

Archie winced at the sound and Thetis rose to her feet and curtsied as Cronus let himself in. Archie tensed, but there was no tension or aggravation in the air so he kept it to himself.

"Thetis, my dear, if you don't mind- I wish to speak with the boy a while," Cronus gave her a nod.

Thetis accepted his dismissal with her usual grace and dignity and turned to Archie, giving him and beautiful smile- and then smoothing out his hair and apparently wiping away something on his face she'd missed before. He took her wrist in his hand- and was slightly surprised at how gentle he was because he was so afraid of hurting her- and gave her the best smile he could muster.

"I'll be fine," he said quietly.

"I know," she whispered back, giving his hair one last smoothing- then he realized she must've been working on his impossible cowlicks- before turning and gliding past Cronus and out the door.

The two of them waiting in a fairly comfortable silence, considering their past relations, before Cronus cleared his voice,

"I think she's stopped hovering around outside. Now, come with me, boy, I'm sure you need to stretch those legs, and we have lots to talk about."

Cronus gave no room for objection as he turned and threw open the doors and started off down the hall. Archie growled to himself before hopping to his feet- swaying slightly- and then limped after the Titan. He was wary coming around the corner, and had to move fast to catch up. The bright lighting stung his eyes, but it was far more bearable now than before, and he was starting to finally wake up now that he was moving.

"Now, we've got a lot to get through, boy, so if you'll do us both a favor and not ask stupid questions every time I say something you don't like, then we'll get through this a lot faster," Archie glared daggers into Cronus's back, and apparently the Titan could feel them, "I don't want to waste my time teaching you if you won't cooperate in the first place. Do we have a deal?" He stopped and turned to face Archie.

For a moment Cronus's red eyes made him think of his own eyes when they'd change colors- and the similarity frightened him. Just how alike were he and Cronus? He wasn't an evil megalomaniac- that was for sure though. Then again… they were both killers now and top of the gods most wanted lists. He wondered, as he looked into Cronus's hard face, if he was looking at himself in the future. Archie felt sick as he nodded slowly. Sick was a feeling he didn't understand, and so along with that sickness was an edge of fear of the unknown. And fear of himself and what he might become.

Cronus walked swiftly down the hall and turned sharply into a room. Archie half-recognized it as the library they'd found him in once upon a time ago, when they'd had the Graes' Eye. Bittersweet memories of better times that he pushed away in case he got lost longing for them to return.

"Sit," was his only command. Finding no other chairs in the room, Archie limped up the few stairs and lowered himself into the throne-like chair. He felt out of place in a giant throne like it. _'Then the true King shall come, For the heir to the throne'_ that was what the prophecy said. He mulled over his own thoughts while Cronus selected some books from the vast library Archie would have been elated to be unleashed upon, had it been lighter times.

"Now, tell me what Hera has taught you about me. Don't leave anything out- including her version of the prophecy." Cronus waved his hand and his own chair- just as elegant as the throne Archie was sitting in- appeared before him and he sat with his legs crossed and fingers folded together. A side table appeared with a teapot and cup on a small plate on it, and the tea pot poured itself. Cronus offered none to him, Archie noticed, not that he wanted any in the first place anyways. Archie suddenly felt a little silly sprawled in the throne the way he was. He adjusted his posture before starting.

"She told us you were a cruel and unjust ruler who was out to destroy the world- or at least rule it and then destroy it out of your own greed and darkness. She told us that the seven heroes were gathered to defend the gods from you and keep Zeus in his rightful place- as the Heir to the Throne. I've only heard the end of that prophecy, and she told us exactly what she thought it meant. We believed her."

Cronus chuckled, "I think my daughter is trying to change the future by paraphrasing a few lines out of context. You see, boy, her reasons for doing this are clear- she does not want to lose her power _or_ her family-"

"But how can she hope to change what has already been prophesized? I know Hera's no idiot," Archie interrupted. Cronus fixed him with a stern glare and Archie bit his tongue.

He continued once he was satisfied there would be no further interruptions, "Once I tell you the truth, you'll understand how what she is doing could possibly work. There has never been a prophesy as blasphemous as one the one that says mortals- the gods' own creations- would destroy them. How could something so small, so worthless, destroy the limitless? But we all know the Oracle is never wrong, and he could provide us no alternatives, so Zeus and Hera- who were just coming into power at this time- spent a grand amount of their time trying to devise a way to stop the prophesy from coming true.

It went from flooding the world to destroy mankind, to trying to make it impossible for Peleus to have a wife. They even cursed Tulais- made him unable to breed among humans and thus have no descendants- but they were thwarted at every turn. Tulais, we could say, was fond of women just as Achilles was and left behind at least one bloodline that eventually merged with that of Achilles in your parents. Zeus and Hera could not stop what was coming.

Hera came up with the idea of fulfilling the prophecy- but in a controlled way. She decided Zeus must be the Heir to the Throne, as there were no other gods who were strong enough to succeed him. By gathering the seven heroes under her wing- along with the Godslay'r himself, she could control their actions and their thoughts and use them for her own advantages.

But she needed someone for them to fight against, who would challenge the authority of Zeus and threaten his 'rights' to the Throne. That was where I came in. You see, I was destined an eternity in Tarterus, but I somehow did the impossible and escaped. It all came together nicely, I masqueraded gaining sudden powers at the stroke of midnight- which I actually did- but they would never have been enough to break me free had that guard not had a large dose of ambrosia in his meal earlier…"

"_Hera_ let you free?" Archie realized, "she _planned_ your escape?"

"Yes, if that wasn't obvious already," Cronus frowned at him until Archie settled again, "the guard was drunk enough for three gods, so it was easy to disable him and 'escape'. From there on in, Hera set up the war and played it by her own rules. As long as I stayed within her guidelines and occasional orders, I had my freedom. She figured she could keep you and the other children busy fighting me," Cronus stopped momentarily to sip some tea, "and then eventually, Demonspawn, you would die fighting me. Your line would end, and the gods would be saved. And if, somehow, you managed to defeat me, you would have fulfilled the prophecy of defeating an 'immortal' and returning Zeus to his unquestioned power. None of the gods would be dead, and you could be disposed of easily."

Archie's mind registered pain in his hands and he finally realized he was gripping the arms of the throne so hard his nails were digging into the material and his knuckles were white. He closed his eyes and focused on calming, slowly releasing his grip finger-by-finger. _Breathe_, he told himself.

Cronus started again before he'd finished calming down, "As for now, Hera is still in the pretense that you are dead, and that Poseidon is off sulking over his honor. He didn't want to kill you while you were innocent, you know," a sudden wave of guilt washed over Archie, "so for now you have the element of surprise."

Archie rubbed his hands tiredly over his eyes before glancing at Cronus, that sick feeling wouldn't go away, "Why are you so suddenly keen to help me, after all the times I- and the others- have foiled your plans and made a fool out of you?"

Cronus laughed, "M'boy, if you don't understand yet how closely our destinies are intertwined, then I realized I'm going to have a lot of work making you a lot sharper than the next mortal. As long as you're still alive- Hera needs someone for you to fight against to distract you from herself. As long as I'm here- you have a safe place to recover and learn about the gods and how to fight them without nearly killing yourself as you did with Poseidon. You and I, boy, are in a place where we're going to need each other to survive."

Archie exhaled loudly, he didn't like or trust Cronus one bit. But that was because of everything Hera had told him. Could he disregard all the information for what Cronus was telling him now? Could he trust either of their information? Hera had meant to manipulate and finally kill him, but Cronus had made numerous attempts on his life- and the lives of his friends- already. Although, if he was simply working under Hera's orders, did that make them on the same side? But Cronus was right, for now he had to put up with the Titan. Cronus has his uses- and if Archie was going to keep himself alive- he needed all the help he could get.

He shook his head slowly, "I think I'm starting to understand what's going on now. But I don't want to kill anyone. No more. Would Hera believe me if I told her I had no interest in hurting her family?" He tried to sit straight and tall, so his head would be higher than Cronus'. Cronus met his eyes levelly, sipped his tea again, and took a devil of a time in thinking of an answer.

"I don't believe so. She's not going to rest until your ashes are ashes."

Archie thought for a while, "Then I'll think up something else. I don't want anything more to do with the gods _or_ this prophecy. I'm tired of fighting…" He trailed off at Cronus's laughter, "what's so funny?" he snapped. The Titan was really starting to get under his skin.

"Man was created in the image of the gods- and for the longest time I believed that it was in appearance only. But the more time I spend among you mortals I'm seeing that even your behavior is similar. Speaking to you now, boy, I'm seeing some qualities that are astonishingly similar between yourself and Hera-"

"I'm nothing like her!" that growl had almost come back, but he kept it to himself and refrained from leaping out of the throne at Cronus.

"Both of you, trying to defy what has already been predicted. Believing the impossible that you might actually succeed. I must say, I find it amusing," the immortal truly sounded amused. Archie was not. In fact, he was tired again.

"We'll talk more later. There's a lot I need to learn from you- but for now I want to rest," he said in the most commanding tone he could muster. Cronus looked slightly bewildered at being ordered, and his posture shift made it clear he meant to complain, but Archie had stood up and was headed for the doors already. He was happy when he heard no further remarks.

As he limped back to his room he wondered how long he could get away with ordering around the master of Time. He reached the doors and felt the impulse to search around and explore, something he probably could have done. He wasn't _too_ tired yet- but he was afraid. Afraid if his mind grew too weary while he was still so weak the voices would come back, the sensation that his body wasn't all his own anymore. Archie wanted to stay as sane as possible, and he was relieved that he hadn't heard the voices since arriving in Cronus' underground home. He was on the road to recovery and he wasn't going to jeopardize it.

Inside, he pulled off his shirt to check the wounds he could see- the one on his back felt a little sore, but he was betting it was healing as nicely as the one on his chest. Once he woke up he'd look around, and check out that library of Cronus' for any useful information. Then he'd have to decide what he was going to do next. There was so much to do, and he felt he had no time to do it. Any move could be his last- he was very, very afraid of Hera finding him.

Archie was about to lay down on the bed when a thought made his blood run cold.

_/Archie?_\\

He curled up in the darkness with his hands over his ears trying to make the voices in his head stop talking as they too roused from their rests.

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Rise of a Hero is BACK!

I hope this chapter, finally giving some answers, makes up for the horrible fight-chapters I had to put you guys through. I think these will start coming easier now that I'm not writing the battle anymore. Plotting is so much more fun to do.

I've always seen Cronus as, other than a crazed megalomaniac, a rather proper gentleman who has tea-time and enjoys classical arts and such, so I tried to portray that here. And the fact that he feels he should be in charge and 'leading' Archie, while Archie feels just the opposite. What kinds of conflict will those thoughts lead to?

And how will Archie cope with hearing voices in his head and not controlling himself in some of his actions? How can a madman save the world?

Or will he even survive until then?

-Demenior


	8. Balance

Rise of a Hero

Disclaimer: See chapter one

Warnings: See chapter one. Minor language in this one.

Pairings: See chapter one

Authors Note: Enjoy the eighth chapter of Rise of a Hero. Things are still being put in motion, so not too much action in this chapter again. We get to see how the others are coping with the loss of Archie, and how the gods are dealing with the defeat of their enemy. Archie is also creating his own plans- but not to destroy the gods- to enlighten the others. Also, selfless quote in here from one of the best movie trilogy's ever. The quote is from the second movie and if you can name the movie I will dedicate a chapter to you. The quote is not _exactly_ word-for-word, and it is from a revolutionary conversation between two characters. (The main and a 'new' character)

Chapter 8: Balance

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It had been three days and Atlanta hadn't had the state of mind to care for herself at all. She smelt terrible, looked worse and felt nothing. She'd cried herself dry on the second day. The others had come into Archie's room one at a time over the past few days, sitting with her for a while in their own silent vigil. But Hera and Athena had finally intervened and said it was time to get over their grief.

That was how she finally remembered personal hygiene, and she scrubbed herself until her skin was raw as if it could wash away her pain. The others were hell-bent on revenge and Jay, Odie and Theresa were scouring the city using Odie's technology and Theresa's mind for Cronus. Herry and Neil were cleaning up downstairs. Atlanta was being forced to have a bath. She felt strangely hollow, as the naïve side of her was saying she should be out with Archie right now- looking for Cronus. But the other part was telling her she was being a baby, and being treated like one. She didn't have any work to do, and wasn't being forced into any work.

Athena had come in and quietly picked her up and lifted her onto her feet. Atlanta hardly remembered the goddess bringing her into the bathroom, taking her filthy clothes and leaving new, clean clothes and soft towels behind as she left Atlanta to a warm bath and a 'scrub behind your ears'.

Atlanta, pulling on her shirt, realized with a start Athena had taken Archie's hoodie. The one she'd hidden away in her room and had been wearing while she mourned. She quickly finished getting dressed and was still toweling her hair while she stumbled down the stairs. Herry and Neil looked up excitedly at her appearance, but she ran right past and downstairs to the laundry room.

"Athena- where's the hoodie? Give it back!" she cried.

Athena gave her the famous 'mother frown' that said she was very disappointed with Atlanta's tone, but she wasn't in the mood to apologize, "What hoodie?" she asked.

"What… the one I was wearing- Archie's hoodie! It's blue… and… and… you took it from me with my other clothes," she was ending in a whisper. Nothing seemed to change on the goddess's face.

"There was no hoodie Atlanta. I just put everything into the wash, and there wasn't anything of Archie's."

Atlanta stepped back. She wanted to tell Athena she was lying, there _had_ been a hoodie, but in her grief-stricken mind she'd even imagined Archie's spirit coming to tell her everything was going to be alright. She didn't know what was real and what she'd dreamed. Finally, she nodded and headed back up the stairs.

Athena made her way down to her armory and quickly burned Archie's hoodie, along with all the pictures she'd taken down off the walls that contained any sign of the demonspawn.

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The walls were empty. Something the gods said had to do with healing- erase the person who was no longer there. Remember him, but they would still be spending an eternity in Elysian Fields with him. That didn't make it hurt any less. Atlanta felt a chill at the thought of erasing Archie from her life. He was too big a factor, it could never happen.

She joined Herry and Neil in the kitchen and absent-mindedly helped wash dishes. The two of them started a few conversations, but her heart wasn't in her words and they stopped after a while and the three of them worked in silence.

Her life suddenly seemed so empty. She couldn't remember what she'd done before Archie.

And that was what made the future so scary she didn't want to move forwards.

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"… thus, if Ares uses brute strength and his godly powers- where are your largest weaknesses?"

Archie chewed his lower lip as he thought, "My mortal abilities- as I'm not as fast or as strong as he is. Nor can I heal instantly like him," he remembered the way the wounds on Poseidon had healed before his eyes.

"Don't forget those close to you," Cronus reminded, "the others from your little team of seven- the gods will try to use them against you, if only as a last resort. Human lives aren't very high priority to us immortals."

Archie resisted the urge to bear his fangs at Cronus. The god hadn't quite got over Archie's direct orders last time, he'd been quite blunt and patronizing ever since.

"Of course," Archie said slowly, as if it were casual talk.

"Your weaknesses are the same with every god. Some will play them up more than others- and the smart gods will exploit your weaknesses entirely. I would not put it past Hera to use one of your friends as blackmail- perhaps the spunky little redhead you were so close with?"

Archie stopped himself right before slamming his delicate teacup into his plate, "Her name is _Atlanta_." The thing was far to fragile for his dangerous hands. He could hold the handle with only two fingers and it still felt like it would shatter at any moment. He wondered if that was how a mortal felt to a god. Like a fine piece of china. Pretty, entertaining, but utterly worthless in the end. Replaceable. And here he was, the teacup breaking the one holding it. He was upsetting the balance.

He set the plate and cup on the arm of the throne and, keeping his face neutral and relatively calm, looked down at Cronus, "So how am I supposed to defeat the gods if I have so many weaknesses?"

"As a mortal, alone, you will never stand a chance against an immortal. But the prophecy calls for the combining of Achilles and Tulais- which has happened in you as you are both their direct descendant."

_I could have told him that_ Tulais huffed.

Achilles sounded like he was sneering, _The Titan thinks he is in control. For now let him believe that Archie, then when the time is-_

Archie told them both to shut up. He gave Cronus a slow nod to continue and ignored their protests.

"And it also says seven heroes- descendants- must come together and fight for your cause. The gods have gathered all seven, and you were united in your efforts when you killed Poseidon. You are going to need their help in order to defeat the gods. Or we ourselves will have to gather six other heroes to fight for your cause."

"_With_ me? Fight _with_ me? No, Cronus, I won't bring anyone else into this. The others can stay where they are. I'll get them all killed if they join me. And my cause is _not_ to kill anyone- it's to survive," Archie had his hands clasped together in his lap to keep from covering his ears. Achilles and Tulais were discussing strategies in his head. They wanted blood. But he was in control.

Cronus sighed, "I don't know how many times I'm going to have to remind you of this, boy, but you are _prophesized_ to _kill_ _all_ of the gods. That is something you cannot avoid, no matter what you want. You need to be planning. If you are not one step ahead, Hera will destroy you."

His upper lip twitched. Tulais wanted to curl it into a snarl. Archie blocked off that foreign thought. He wasn't crazy. He was still himself.

"Cronus I have told you- all I want to do is let the others know the truth. They need to know that the gods are keeping important facts from them and bending the truth. I will not ask anyone to fight with me, for me, or against me. They can do as they wish as soon as they understand what is happening," it was Achilles' brisk, commanding tone that left Cronus speechless for a short moment.

Archie cursed silently that he'd lost control so easily. Achilles had a much sneakier way of taking control then Tulais' battle for dominance.

Then the Titan leaned forwards in his chair, "But you see, my boy, what is happening is a revolution. _'Each god must fall, those kind, cruel and fair'_," he quoted, "who will control the earth when the gods are gone, boy? Who will be the most powerful after they are all dead. Will it be you? Will you bring justice to those who abandoned mankind? Will you become the deity of the next era? You are now the spokesperson for mankind, for all mortals. You are the change that has been prophesized for centuries."

_And those that resist change will perish_, Achilles whispered. He sounded like he was sneering.

_I would very much like to be a god, _Tulais chuckled. Achilles said nothing, but Archie could feel his agreement. Because of them he was considering the idea too. It disgusted him.

"No!" he said so fast it startled Cronus as much as it did himself- and Achilles and Tulais, "this is _not_ a power struggle. I am _not_ looking to kill anyone else. I refuse to. I… I don't want this burden. Why couldn't it have been someone more capable? Why me?"

Cronus looked thoughtful for some time. He sipped his tea and tapped his foot. Archie didn't dare touch his tea cup again for fear of breaking it. He was lounging to the other side of the chair to stay as far from it as he could. The silence was deafening.

Cronus finally waved his hand and a thick, dusty book from the large shelves to Archie's right shuddered out of the collection and flew to Archie's face. It stopped just short of breaking his nose. Moving his hand as if turning pages, Cronus began to speak as the book lay flat and the pages turned accordingly.

"You are not the first to have these issues, boy. You were not the first tasked to kill the gods everyone, including you, worshiped. You are not the first to start this war, but hopefully you will be the last."

_What_? All three of them were silent. Archie's eyes widened. He… wasn't the first? How was that possible… how did that work? Then how could he be sure the prophecy was about him?

Cronus continued as if Archie wasn't having a major revelation, "I prefer counting from the emergence of one 'Chosen Ones' to the emergence of the next, in which case this is the sixth version."

"_Bullshit_!" All three of them snarled, Achilles and Tulais were echoing in his mind like thousands of voices around him.

There were drawings, sketches made in mediums that had long smudged and obscured the details and most of the lines. All depicted two warriors, sometimes with an army, sometimes one fighting to protect the other. None were the same two people, but there were reoccurring characteristics that gave Archie the sinking feeling he knew who, if not exactly, these people were.

"There were others? Before me? Why didn't they succeed? Why didn't I know about them?" They were all asking the same questions. Archie wasn't sure which were his own thoughts anymore.

Cronus looked slightly smug as he flipped the page to show one last drawing, "They all died trying."

The book closed with a boom and a breath of dust into Archie's face that made him cough. It went back to its original place and settled in among the ancient writing.

"So… how am I supposed to succeed then? I'm all alone- they had partners, someone to watch their back…" _All I've got is you, Cronus, and I have no idea what you want from me_, "and they were pure-blooded direct descendants- I'm mixed blood." Archie rubbed his temples as Achilles and Tulais echoed his thoughts.

"That is exactly the point, m'boy. That is where you can succeed. Where they had to work hard in order to function as one unit, you have that already done for you. As one person, you work completely in tune with yourself without error. Also, Archie, I think you are quite assuredly the One the prophecy speaks of as, unlike the others before you, you have killed your first god."

At the memory of that night, Archie did snarl and narrow his eyes. That only made things worse. The night Poseidon had tried to kill him had been the start of everything. This nightmare, his exile… his insanity.

"So what will you do now? I can train you to fight gods, Archie. How will you draw them out? Which one will you choose to kill first?"

"None of them. I don't even have a weapon if I wanted to fight," Archie replied flatly. Cronus got on his nerves easily, never mind Achilles or Tulais.

"So you are going to sit here and wait, for what? Once you die, Archie, you are at their mercy. This is the only chance you will have to save yourself. _What will you do now_?" Cronus slammed his tea cup onto his plate loudly. Archie almost jumped at the sound. Of course a god, where he belonged in the nature of things, knew his own strength and did not break the cup. Archie knocked his off the armrest and it shattered on the ground. He stared at the pieces and remembered what he'd been thinking earlier. He was wrong, something that should not exist- but did. Upsetting the balance. Enduring where he should shatter. He shuddered.

"Pity," Cronus mumbled, waving his hand and the pieces swept themselves together and disappeared, "it was an aesthetic piece of china, was it not? Please do keep your clumsy mortal ways to yourself in the future."

"I'll plan," Archie said slowly, at Cronus's confused look he continued, "I'm planning my next move. I know what I want to do- but there are points I need to work out. I'll call for you when I need you, Cronus."

Cronus frowned. The three of them knew he hated being ordered, _especially_ by a mortal.

Archie wondered on that, _But why doesn't he challenge me on it? Threaten me? He's a god- he could easily… _

It was then that he realized why Cronus put up with his orders.

_Because I can _kill_ him_.

Cronus left with some parting words Archie didn't catch. He sat on the throne and wondered what kind of power he now had. Cronus would obey his commands, he realized. The Titan of Time was at his beck and call.

Finally he got up and made his way to the dusty books, craving information. Already plans were forming in his mind.

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We have poor Atlanta confusing herself in the gods' mind-games. Theresa and Jay are starting to see the truth about why Atlanta is so devastated.

Archie is talking with Cronus and starting to come to terms with the sudden changes in hierarchy. Cronus has a lot to offer- but because of the fact he fears Archie's power, can Archie trust him to not turn him over to Hera? Hera has been in contact with Cronus since he 'escaped'.

Hopefully we'll have some action in the next chapter- I plan on getting Archie ready for fighting (Cronus's idea, as Archie doesn't want to fight) and possibly get Atlanta out of the Brownstone. As hard as it is, she needs to let go and accept Archie's gone.

On a completely off-topic, geeky note, anyone in the Edmonton area going to the AnimeCon in August? If you are, look for me on at least one of the days (not sure which one) and I'm going to try and make a Medellia-Dragon-Priestess-ish costume for then. If you do see me, or think you do, scream DEMENIOR!!11!!1! and if I look up it'll be me. Hope to see you there!

Anyone catch the movie tribute?

-Demenior


	9. Choices

Rise of a Hero

Disclaimer: See chapter one

Warnings: See chapter one.

Pairings: See chapter one

Authors Note: Hey there again! We have some massive angst in this chapter- and I swear this is almost the end of everyone being all 'Woe is me! All is teh sadz!' It should all wrap up pretty well by the next chapter, no lie. Just bear with me, people need time to grieve. As always, feedback is welcome, plus is any of my stories happen to inspire anything (writing/drawing/prose- I know I get some massive inspirations from/for other stories and art) I would totally love to see it!

Chapter 9: Choices

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The doors opened slowly, light spilling in and dust swirled in the still air. It was blocked by a silhouette, crouched and looking back and forth as he entered. There was a small limp in his walk, due to some old injury. The light highlighted his tense muscles, the violet in his hair and the glint of red in his eyes.

He stepped forwards tentatively and the darkness in front of him illuminated like the sun. He jumped but quickly regained an aloof, but wary demeanor. He snarled at the man standing across the room from him.

"Welcome, Demonspawn!" Zeus called from across the floor.

Cronus said he had something for us to do! He set us up! Tulais roared.

He Is A Traitor! You should have killed him when you had the chance, Archie! Achilles shouted.

"Zeus! I don't want to fight you- can't we talk?" Archie held up his hands to show he had no weapons.

"Talk is meaningless with a Godslay'r," Zeus began walking forwards, drawing a thunderbolt from the quiver on his back. He was dressed to fight. To kill.

Archie took a step back; he could get a good head start on Zeus if the god attacked now.

Zeus laughed, "Why run Demonspawn? I thought you enjoyed the taste of my blood! Or was Poseidon some 'accident'?"

Cronus has told him everything! We have to assume he knows all of our weaknesses now; Achilles' tone was that of a commander.

Fight him! We have to stand our ground! Tulais ordered.

Archie was on a completely different wavelength then his ancestors, No! We have to run away! I don't want to die! 

"You're not going to leave so soon, are you?" Zeus chuckled, "well, that's okay. I've got a little surprise that you're probably going to die for."

Zeus held up a bony hand, waving it through the air to open a portal that revealed Atlanta. She was bound and gagged and laying on the ground of some dark cell. There was blood matted on her brow from where she had been hit. She was unconscious at the moment. Archie felt his blood boil.

"What Did You Do To Her?" he snarled.

"Fight me, Demonspawn, die to save your whore!" Zeus laughed.

"Don't You Talk About Her That Way!" Archie threw himself into a run at the god, Achilles and Tulais telling him he was being foolish now. The hair on the back of his neck rose as the thunderbolt glowed an electric blue and hummed in the still, dry air. Zeus threw it with such precision that Archie almost didn't dodge it. He had to rely on Tulais's senses and Achilles' reaction time to keep himself alive. The entire lair shook with every bolt. The air was alive with static.

There was a pull in his body, powered by his rage, a tingling sensation like pins and needles that focused in his hand. He clenched his fists as he leapt into the air. Zeus threw another thunderbolt at him, Archie knocked it aside with the buzzing- the magic- in his body. He realized he was holding Poseidon's trident. That magic had been him summoning it. He landed on the other side of Zeus and spun to face the god, snarling and crouched so low he was almost on all fours.

Instead of Zeus, it was Cronus standing before him. And the Titan was clapping with a smug look on his face.

"Well done, m'boy. I must say you did very well for our first training session."

"Our What?!" Archie, Achilles and Tulais snapped.

Cronus gave him a look of feigned innocence, "Training of course, did you honestly think I would sell you out to my dear, young son? If I did- you'd be dead already."

Archie relaxed, standing up slowly. His back cracked and he rolled his shoulders. All of the wounds from the fight with Poseidon were almost completely healed and only small scratches or scrapes now.

"So Atlanta…" Archie began slowly, his eyes were still furious despite his relaxed stance.

"Is still with the gods and is in whatever state they're letting her stay in," Cronus replied, clasping his hands behind his back as he began to walk towards Archie.

Archie frowned, and then looked down at the trident in his hand, "Where did this come from?"

"It's a magical weapon, made for a god, m'boy. Of course you don't carry it around physically with you all the time, but as the weapon now belongs to you, you can summon it when you are in a fight. I am quite glad I don't need to teach you how to call it to your aid, as you've done it just fine on your own."

Archie snorted. Tulais and Achilles were still on edge, and all three of them were quite upset about being tricked. Archie wasn't sure if Cronus was still talking, but tuned him out regardless and twirled the trident around in his hands. It was much like his own spear, back in the war-

Whoa! Not my memory! Archie fumbled and dropped the trident. It clattered loudly to the floor, sending up a cloud of dust around his feet.

Cronus huffed, taking the opportunity to treat Archie like a child again, "I thought we spoke about being a clumsy mortal already-"

"Be quiet. Don't ever pull some trick like that on me again, Cronus," Archie let Achilles speak as he bent down to pick up the trident. He swung it widely as he stood up so that it was pointed in Cronus's face, "and don't you ever call Atlanta a whore or I will kill you where you stand."

Archie was relieved to see Cronus pale slightly and pretend not to notice the trident. He was obviously nervous. Archie was pleased to see this reaction. He's been counting on it.

"I don't need to be trained, Cronus. I will not fight the gods. Now leave- I'll come speak to you later. I have a few more things to think about."

Cronus stammered, then decided to stay silent with heated eyes, and retreated from the room. Archie waited until he was sure Cronus was gone, before falling to his knees in relief. He'd been worried sick that he'd been wrong to think Cronus would obey him. Him, Archie, a mortal! Even worse- a Demonspawn. Just as easily had Cronus stepped down in authority, he could have stepped up and killed Archie right then and there.

The spasm caught Archie so off guard he thought something was wrong with him before he realized he was laughing. It wasn't anything like when he laughed with his friends. It was a weak, strained pathetic sound of someone who had just cheated death. The Titan of Time truly was at his command, for now. Archie just had to be sure Cronus respected his authority, not resented it. He'd have to be careful with how much he ordered Cronus around.

He got back to his feet, still shaking with giddy adrenaline, and used the trident for support. Archie forced himself to take deep breaths to steady his heart rate.

We should have fought him, Tulais huffed.

We would have lost, Archie reminded the demon. He tried not to pay attention as Tulais ranted. Listening to the voices in his head brought him back to a darker mood. He sighed, had he said that out loud, people would think… people would know he was crazy.

Achilles casually spun the trident around effortlessly a few more times before Archie wondered what to do with it. He tried to imagine it 'poofing' back to wherever it came from. That didn't really work.

Let's see… it came when I was going to get attacked… he had an idea, and took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Archie counted slowly to ten and repeated until he felt quite calm. Probably as close to peaceful as he could get. He could feel the tingling sensation over his body as the magic coursed through him and then the trident was gone. He shook his hands to rid them of the pins and needles feeling.

"Now to talk to Cronus," Archie muttered, almost destroying his happy feeling. Achilles and Tulais both groaned.

Happy feeling gone now, thanks guys. I was feeling sane for a moment.

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Atlanta recoiled from the light as the door opened. She was lying on Archie's bed, clutching his grease-stained pillow like it was her lifeline. It still smelled strongly of him. She'd always loved hugging his pillow while waiting for him to get back from his lessons with Ares to surprise him. Holding it made it feel like he was just taking a really long time getting home and she sometimes caught herself wondering if she should call him and remind him about the plans they'd made for yesterday.

Then she'd choke up and the tears would start all over again. Archie was gone, and he was never going back. She was never going to go to a midnight premiere horror movie with him and then make fun of everything, or scare him at the tensest parts. Never again would she run into battle with him or go skateboarding with him. She wouldn't get upset with him at leaving the toilet seat up or for still being afraid of water. She'd never have to tell him he was being a jerk again or ever get to call him a dork. It was ridiculous how much it still hurt to think about how much she'd lost, and how much worse it was that she'd never said goodbye.

"Lannie," Theresa whispered sadly, closing the door behind her. She moved slowly across the now-familiar path to Atlanta and sat down beside the huntress. Theresa didn't speak but wrapped her arms around Atlanta comfortingly.

Atlanta hugged her back and the two of them sat in silence, "When did you get back?" Atlanta croaked, her voice horse from crying.

"Really early this morning," Theresa smiled weakly, there were large bags under her eyes and she looked lifeless, "we've looked everywhere but there's no sign of Cronus. I-I think he might be taunting us about… Archie." Atlanta flinched at the name.

Theresa sighed, "Listen, Lan. I know you're hurting. I… Archie and I never did get along very well, but I miss him too, you know? As much as we fought, he was my team mate, my friend my… my brother. I know I'm hurting a lot, but what you're going through must be terrible, Atlanta. I know there's really nothing I can say to make you feel better, but you have to remember: you know where Archie is right now. He's in the Elysian Fields, right? Where heroes go- where we'll go."

"T-then can we go see him? Why can't we go see Archie?" Atlanta mumbled. She refused to let Theresa go, but was also cradling the pillow in her other arm.

"Hades said Archie's still a little disoriented about everything, and that he doesn't want us to see him dead until it's our turn, because then we'll all be really sad and depressed. You know Archie 'd hate to see you so depressed like this- it makes all of us upset to see you hurting so much. Lannie, you know Archie's in a good place, so please, it's been almost a week now- you need to start getting back on your feet."

Atlanta shook her head stubbornly and clutched tighter on the pillow, "I can't Theresa, it… it hurts so much. How can I let Archie go, Theresa? He was my best friend and… and…" Atlanta wiped her nose on the sleeve of her sweater- the one Archie had gotten for her birthday a year ago.

Theresa cried a little with Atlanta, "And what?" she finally asked.

Atlanta opened her mouth as if to answer, then shook her head slowly and closed the topic.

Theresa's shoulders slumped, "Atlanta, you won't be able to let go of his death quickly, I know that. But you need to get back into the world. I want you to go to the mall, okay? Just… go hang out, shop around a little. Just be around people and out of this house for the day. You can go sit in the food court all day if you want- I don't mind. But please, start working towards being happy again. For Archie?"

Atlanta's breathing hitched as Theresa finished. How could she deny anything for Archie now? She nodded slowly, "Alright," she murmured, "I'll go."

Theresa hugged Atlanta again, "Clean yourself up a little, okay? I'll drive you over." Theresa got up and headed to the door.

"What are you doing today?" Atlanta looked up.

Theresa stopped at the door, "I… I'm going back to locating Cronus. I'll tell you the truth, Atlanta, I think we need to stop. We're all exhausted- physically and emotionally by trying to force ourselves through our grief. No one has it in them to smile, or even laugh. It's kinda scary, Lan. Maybe if they see you dealing, then everyone else can follow suit."

"You sound like you're dealing pretty well, Therri," Atlanta tried to smile, but it was a pathetic attempt.

Theresa looked at her feet, "I'm a pretty good actor when I need to be. I'll meet you outside in a few minutes Atlanta."

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It was so bright, so big, so joyful, so loud, so open, so packed. It was completely different than Archie's room, which had been Atlanta's sanctuary for the past few days. She felt so exposed that she walked huddled together with her arms crossed and tried to make herself as small as possible. She felt like a wild animal in a cage surrounded by unfamiliar things.

Now she needed to find a way to make time go faster, or else this horror of the mall and the sun and all the loud, happy people would never end.

Her feet followed the familiar track to the theatres and she found herself looking up at the posters of all the movies she and Archie had seen and were still planning on seeing together. She bit back her sobs and forced herself not to cry in public. Atlanta was still keeping her tears down when a boy tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hey, you okay?" She nodded and forced herself to look at him. He was a little taller then she was, overall he wasn't very attractive- but not unattractive either. He was dressed casually like he frequented the mall. She didn't miss how he looked her over and decided she was worth flirting with.

"So, going to see a movie? Me too- which one are you going to see?" he tried to make friendly conversation.

She shrugged, "Any one. I don't really care." The conversation pretty well shut down. She didn't mind.

He made another try, "Well… how 'bout I buy us tickets and what do you say we go sit in the back?"

Normally Atlanta would have laughed and told him to go away before she got Archie after him. You didn't sit in the back unless you were planning on not watching the movie. But now… there was an empty void inside of her and it hurt. She would do anything to make it stop hurting. And it was hurting because of Archie, and this boy was nothing like Archie. She knew it was a bad choice.

"Sure," she said, "pick a long movie."

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So if you are taking a bit of notice, Archie completely resists Tulais, the demon, taking control in his body, but seems content with allowing Achilles, the hero, to control his actions and/or words. Why do you think this is?

Oh, and Archie, listening to the voices in my head puts me into a darker mood too- you're not the only one.

Oh, Atlanta, don't do that to yourself!

I know Atlanta may seem to be acting out of character by being 'oh woe is me!', but hey, her best friend/boyfriend just 'died'. Let her grieve. I promise that she'll be getting back on her feet by the next chapter. And what could Archie's plan possibly be? Is there any way to save Atlanta from Mr. Wrong? What about the others- will they be able to get over Archie's 'death'?

-Demenior


	10. Reunion

Rise of a Hero

Disclaimer: See chapter one

Warnings: See chapter one.

Pairings: See chapter one

Authors Note: Sorry for the massive delay, nothing to say for it but the usual: schoolwork (physics!), work and trying to have a decent social life.

Chapter 10: Reunion

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He paid for her ticket without asking. She would have argued about paying her own fair share if it was Archie and he would always slip the money across the counter while she was concentrated on the debate. She stayed quiet now as he talked in a quiet, monotone voice. Atlanta still didn't know his name and she really didn't care what it was.

He took her hand, again, without speaking to her. It buzzed on her skin, like what she'd expect from a lover. But she felt nothing for this man. There was nothing remarkable about his touch, other then it tingled, like pins and needles almost, against her hand. There was something familiar about the feeling, but the more Atlanta thought about this man the more she realized what she was doing. So she forced herself not to think at all.

He didn't bother asking if she wanted any food or a drink, and she knew she wouldn't have time to have them anyways. She glanced up from the floor only once, to try and see something or some_one_ to tell her that she was being a bad girl. But there was only him looking at her, and he looked very disappointed in her. She kept her eyes on her feet.

Atlanta only stumbled once in the dark as they headed up the badly-lit stairs to the back row. She fell against him, every part of her that touched him buzzed like her hand, and he moved and pulled her to her feet just as quickly. No one said anything about them. She wondered why she was waiting on someone else to save her. No one was coming. Her knight was long dead. Her happy ending with him.

They were in the back too quickly. Atlanta's sensible mind was shouting at her. Telling her that she would regret this for the rest of her life. Forever. She was insulting her friends, Archie and _herself_ by using this stranger as a means of escape. And she told herself she didn't care. She told herself she wanted to make bad choices, she wanted to be wrong.

He sat down quickly and pulled her into his lap. Her heart was pounding and her head was sore from her bickering with herself. Atlanta's hands began to shake. She didn't want to touch him. She didn't want to be near him. A week ago she would have been disgusted by girls in her same situation. She was no better now. Atlanta realized she was still waiting on the false hope Archie would come and save her. He was always there when she needed him. And god, she needed him now. He had to come for her.

The man was looking at her in such a way that he appeared to pity her, and be upset with her at the same time.

"What are you doing with yourself?" he whispered, reaching out to cup her cheek in his hand. She flinched at his strange touch but he kept his hand on her face. She felt like she was a child being scolded by a parent. He pulled her in towards him, their faces so close now. She could still run away. She was good at that.

"Atlanta, this isn't like you," he continued. She wondered what he meant by that. Because she was so apprehensive? Usually she charged headfirst without thinking. Was she supposed to be touching him now, was she supposed to be giving herself into his embrace? She never told him her name…

He pulled her closer to him. Their lips were almost touching. It was almost too late. The lights were dimming.

"I will explain everything Atlanta; I promise you I will tell you the truth. But we might be under surveillance right now Atlanta and I can't have anyone know I'm here. Don't talk- not yet. Close your eyes," the voice was completely different but the way he spoke was similar to the way Archie talked when he was dead serious about something. Her body responded of it's own accord and trusted this strange man's words.

Suddenly, the buzz of his hand on her face was gone. He was still touching her, she could still feel the coolness of his fingers and the way his thumb stroked along her cheekbone. But the tingling she'd felt before was gone.

"Look at me, quickly," he ordered.

And when she opened her eyes, it was Archie's face she was leaning so close to. It was Archie who was holding her so close. But Archie was… this had to be a trick. A sick joke.

Magic! It had to be magic!

Atlanta's stomach suddenly twisted at her revelation. It was magic that tingled against the skin in close contact. It was magic that had been surrounding this man to disguise his appearance. And now that there was no magic, that meant this was his true face-

_Archie_!

Atlanta opened her mouth to speak, tears sprang to her eyes. She knew it, he couldn't be dead! Here he was again to save her from destruction and she was shaking in shock and happiness and she wanted to scream her victory and joy for everyone to hear.

Archie kissed her so fast that she couldn't make a sound and instantly the magic returned. And she could see the appearance of the stranger but under her fingers, against the strange sensation of magic, she could feel the shapes of Archie's face, his shoulders, his arms and his chest. And his hands touched her as well. They had never been like this before. A kiss had always been rare, hidden from others. Sometimes, when they'd been rather romantic they would hold hands.

Atlanta had never felt this desperate for Archie's touch, for his _taste_. And she would not stop until she was satisfied.

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"Nothing! He comes out of nowhere, _murders _Archie and now he vanishes! Cronus should be gloating his defeat! Not hiding away like this!" Jay shouted. He leaned back in his chair, hands over his face. Theresa was sitting on his bed, and had been dozing over charts Odie had made of recent activities that could be related to Cronus. She sat upright at Jay's outburst.

"Jay," she sighed, setting the papers aside and slipping off his bed, "you're exhausted. You aren't going to get anything done if you don't sleep."

Jay turned to look at her and his eyes looked sunken and his face hollow of any lively glow. He looked so dead, "I have to find him, Theresa. He has to pay for what he did-"

"And we will. But for now, we all need to sleep. Odie's collapsed over his computer downstairs and Herry managed to drag himself onto the couch before breaking down- eyen _Neil_ has been up all this time but went to sleep a while ago. Jay, you _need_ rest."

She walked forwards, almost stumbling, to his side. He was shaking his head, mumbling incoherently. She kneeled beside him, "For me, Jay? Just for a little bit, close your eyes and let your mind rest. You're going to kill yourself at this rate."

Jay looked into her eyes with an argument, but Theresa saw it fade away. He was exhausted beyond comprehension. They all were, and Jay was still trying to act like a leader, like he was still the strongest. And as long as he kept them going, they would keep doing everything that he asked of them.

"Alright," he whispered, smiling for the first time in ages, though it could hardly be called a smile, "but… will you stay with me?"

Theresa wanted to have a shower, to scrub dirt and sweat and tears and doubt and grief off herself. She wanted to change into new, clean clothes. She wanted to wash her greasy, limp hair. She wanted to get rid of the make up streaked down her face. She wanted to look beautiful again, but she nodded and Jay carefully took her hand in his and they lay on his bed together and were quickly consumed by sleep.

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Neil was lying in his bed, exhausted, but sleep would not take him. He continued to imagine what it would be like sharing a bed with Theresa. He liked to sleep in the middle, but he would gladly give up half his bed for her, if she would let him hold her in his arms. He wondered if he could brush her hair while she washed off her face and she would quietly hum a song or tune in a way that was beautiful to his ears and for him alone. He wondered what it would be like to entwine their fingers and lead her to his bed where he could caress her soft body and feel her curves against him. Neil went to sleep dreaming of the day Theresa would chose him over Jay.

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Archie moaned in the back of his throat as Atlanta shifted herself in his lap. She tried to get his shirt off and out of the way- again- but Archie had to stop her because he was remotely aware they were still in a public place. Otherwise he wouldn't have been able to stop himself.

"Why," she whispered between wet kisses, "haven't you," his tongue ran across her lips, "come back?"

He kissed down her neck and tasted the salty sweat from her excitement, "I can't explain that," he paused to suck at her collarbone, "not now, it's too complicated," he kissed her again and she took his face in her hands to hold the kiss until their lungs felt about to burst, "but I will. I promise."

"When?" she sighed, kissing his face and feeling the slope of his nose under the buzz of magic.

"Later, with the others," he kissed her gently this time, taking her by both wrists, "now Atlanta listen to me, this is serious- not yet," he said quickly as she leaned in to kiss him again, "you have to act like I was never here," he didn't respond to her shock, "for both our sakes, you have to act like I am still dead Atlanta. I'm risking your life by being here right now, and I'm sorry I have to do this to you, but there's no other choice."

"Why? Why can't you come back?" He kissed her again before she started crying.

"Someone might be watching us right now, Atlanta. I need you to pretend like I'm not saying anything important- if you have the need to cry or laugh or make any noise, stop yourself or kiss me to make me stop if I say too much-" She kissed him right there. He smiled into her lips, "I haven't started the really bad news yet."

"Too much talking," she nuzzled her face under his chin and kissed down his neck.

"I need you to get the others alone for a while- no gods. Do _not_, under **any** circumstances trust the gods, Atlanta, I beg of you. For all that you care for me, just listen to me this one time."

"Anything," she kissed him for a moment, "Archie you have no idea what I'd do for you now. Just promise you won't hurt me again."

"I promise," he replied between kisses, "but please, please get better Atlanta. You're not at all yourself. You are not the beautiful, spirited person I thought I would come back to- and I know you've been hurt and it's because of me, but don't you _ever_ try to hide your pain with some stranger ever again. _Ever_." Atlanta was surprised at the undertone of fury and jealously in Archie's voice. She recalled the disappointed looks the 'stranger' had given her before she found out he was Archie. It must have made him sick having to lure her into this place, and even worse when she came along without protest.

"Okay," she said, "but I don't want to wait very long."

He nodded, "It all depends how soon you can get the others away from the gods."

"How will I reach you?"

He grinned mischievously as if he had the final ingredient that would make their well-laid prank perfect, and once upon a time he always did, "Something your new boyfriend gave you- the one you met at the movies today. His name is Taylor Smith and you are completely head-over-heels for this guy, although to the others he sounds like a complete sleaze-ball taking advantage of you and buying your love and affection with flashy things like this-" she was too shocked by the so Archie-like expression on the face that was distorted by magic that she didn't see what he had for her, but she felt his hand down her side as he rested it on her hip momentarily when he slipped something into her pocket.

"There's only one number, call me if you ever need me. And remember- Taylor Smith," he smiled lop-sided and kissed her one last time. Atlanta realized the end credits were rolling and the lights were coming on. She kissed him one last time,

"See you soon?"

"I promise Atlanta."

They parted in the crowd with one last lingering touch of their fingers. She couldn't believe everything that had just happened. Her head was spinning and she needed to sit down for a while. There was so much she should have asked, needed to know. Why couldn't he come back? Why were the gods telling them he was dead? Why were they saying Cronus had killed Archie when he was clearly still alive?

It couldn't have been real. Archie showing up from the dead? Some fantasy she'd spun in her mind, and yet…

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a sleek, new cell phone. She could care less for it's color, which was black, or the style or anything about it. She flipped it open quickly and went to the contacts.

Taylor Smith.

She called him.

"Already?" was the first thing she heard.

She couldn't help herself from laughing. It was a tired, sad, joyful and ridiculous laugh that sounded more like she was crying.

'Atlanta?" he sounded worried.

"No, no," she said, "I… I just… had to be sure… it was _real_."

He chuckled in such a familiar way it brought tears to her eyes, "Take care Atlanta, I will see you soon."

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I'd like to say, this is like the most romantic/passionate chapter in BOTH DWM and RH.

:)

-Demenior


	11. In Motion

**Rise of a Hero**

Disclaimer: See chapter one

Warnings: See chapter one.

Pairings: See chapter one

Authors Note: Sorry guys, I have _no_ possible excuse this time… unless you'd believe I have been away in the universe fighting the forces of evil and then locked away in a space-time continuum that left me trapped in a cryogenic sleep until now? I thought not, but it was worth a try.

**Chapter 11: In Motion**

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The change in Atlanta was astonishing and noticed immediately in the entire household. She returned humming to herself and moving as if her mind was miles elsewhere and the look on her face was so foreign to the despair they'd been wallowing in they didn't know what to think of it. Her change in attitude seemed to lift the darkness from the halls and their own minds and for the first time since the night of Archie's death, they all gathered together in the same room and sat for a decent meal.

No one talked, only yawns and food were passed around but the curiosity of the others got the best of them and they watched the huntress in rapt attention though she was completely oblivious to their gazes. After dinner they broke apart and their actions did not hold the anger of avenging Archie's death. They'd been released from the chaotic state of mind that had gripped all six of them and Odie and Herry sat down and mutely watched a movie while Theresa showered, Jay slept fitfully and still struggled with nightmares and Neil brushed his hair and changed his shirt several times. Atlanta stayed on the main level, still gracefully moving around and humming to herself, and they all knew that if she went upstairs she would find Archie's room and be caught up in grieving again.

Only after Theresa had finished her shower, making sure to scrub herself clean and wash her hair until all of the knots were out, and put on fresh clothes so that in the mirror she looked fresh and alive again, save for her tired smile and slightly gaunt face, did she go in search of Atlanta and finally ask the cause of the sudden change in her friend.

She found Atlanta sitting cross legged in the grass in the backyard. She was smiling and holding an unfamiliar phone in her hands and looked like she was debating making a call. Theresa walked over to her friend and sat down beside her. She was apprehensive to begin talking, a small part of her worried that by speaking she would ruin the weak rays of happiness that had spread into their home. Theresa folder her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs as she leaned towards Atlanta.

"Where's that from, Lannie?" she whispered. When Atlanta wasn't snapped back into sorrow Theresa relaxed, and instead was shocked to see the blush spread across Atlanta's face.

"Someone," Atlanta mumbled coyly, shutting the phone and quickly slipping it into her pocket.

Theresa was quite stunned. On one hand she was overjoyed to see Atlanta outside of Archie's room and not sobbing, but then again, she'd been sure that Archie and Atlanta had been dating and this was not the response she expected from someone who had been grieving and unwilling to move on only that morning.

"Like, a _boy_ someone?" Theresa pressed.

Atlanta stiffened as she thought of Archie and how much she wanted to tell Theresa how excited she was that he _wasn't_ dead, but she recalled Archie's warning that no one else could know he was alive, for some reason, but she trusted him enough. For a moment Atlanta was worried Theresa might read her mind, so she focused on the name and explanation Archie had given her.

She nodded slowly, "His name's Taylor- I met him at the movies."

Theresa let it all sink in, "You just met him today- and he gave you a phone?" Her worry that maybe she'd pushed Atlanta too far by forcing her to leave the house returned. She took in Atlanta's appearance again and noticed her lips looked somewhat bruised and there were marks on her neck that could have only come from some form of passion. Theresa felt sick. Atlanta only nodded again at Theresa's question.

"Atlanta," Theresa pressed, "what did you do today? With… with… _Taylor_?"

Atlanta bit her lip and looked away from Theresa. Well, Ar- _Taylor_- wanted to come across as a scumbag, so she'd play along with what he wanted.

"Well," she drew a breath as if she was excited and nervous to speak, "he bought me my ticket and was really nice. We talked a lot and he kept telling me how pretty and funny I was and then we kissed," she saw Theresa's look of alarm and though she felt bad for doing this to her other best friend, she continued, "we kissed… a _lot_ and it felt really, really good Therri. And he got me a phone so that we can always call each other all the time and I can't wait to see him again!" Atlanta would have been disgusted with herself if she hadn't been telling the story for Archie's sake.

Theresa was doing an amazing job hiding her rage, but that didn't keep her from pretending she was okay with everything, "Atlanta, did you honestly just meet this boy _today_?"

"Yes, what's wrong with that? Do you think something's wrong with Taylor and I being together?" Atlanta knew her friends well enough and Ar-Taylor needed to get them all on their own and the best way Atlanta could think of was to spin her relationship with Taylor out of control until her loving and wonderful friends would step in and demand to meet him to teach him a 'lesson' or two. She wasn't proud, but she'd have to anger every one of her friends.

"Yes, I do think there's _everything_ wrong with this, Atlanta!" Theresa was keeping a relatively calm composure while wanted to scream at her best friend for being so stupid, "he's _using_ you Atlanta, can't you see that? He's a loser that picks up heartbroken girls like you and talks you up to make you want him, and once he's done he's going to dump you! Now this is my fault for making you go out, but you have to get rid of him right now, okay?"

Atlanta tried to imagine Theresa was someone else saying those very words about Archie and she used that false anger in her words, "What do you known, Theresa, you've never met him! I _love_ him and he would never do something like that to me, okay? He and I are totally in love with one another and there's nothing you can do about it!"

She was going to lose her senses if she didn't get away from Theresa now. The hurt look on the other woman's face was almost too much to bear and Atlanta just wanted to tell Theresa the truth and rejoice that Archie was alive. Instead she got to her feet and dashed inside in a hurry. She ran so fast she didn't know where she was when she closed the door to her own room behind her and had to stare at her surroundings for a while. She wondered if she should go back to Archie's room and pretend to cry for a while, to keep up her charade of 'nothing has changed', but decided against it. She was so tired- it had been such a long day.

Atlanta changed into fresh pajama's and sank into her own soft bed. One more thing before she fell asleep. She took the sleek black phone off of her bedside table and opened it, staring at the name _Taylor Smith_ in the contacts list again until she got the nerve to hit dial again.

"Hello?" an unfamiliar voice answered almost immediately. Atlanta felt paranoid again that she'd dreamed up everything and was in over her head with a stranger.

"Hey, it's… me," she whispered, hoping she sounded like herself.

Immediately the voice changed and it was Archie's familiar, comforting voice again, "Hey Lannie, what's going on? Sorry to confuse you- just keeping a different voice with the 'Taylor' disguise thing, you know, so that no one can guess who he really is… Lannie?"

Atlanta wanted to talk but she was choked up with tears again, but she wiped her eyes embarrassedly. No more crying, she was better then that. Archie was alive; there was nothing to cry about.

"Atlanta? Are you alright?" Archie asked more urgently.

She nodded, then realized how silly that was, "Yeah, yeah, I'm okay. I… I still can't believe- I mean, I thought I was dreaming. I miss you."

"I miss you too. Is everything alright?" Archie's voice held a tone of underlying sadness as if he were mourning as well. Atlanta wanted to know so badly why he wanted everyone to think he was dead.

Suddenly it struck her that even the gods thought he was dead. Maybe he was doing an undercover mission for the gods and everyone needed to believe he was dead- including Cronus, for the plot to work. That had to be it.

"Everything's fine. I've begun the first phase of making you into a complete jerk, though it's not that hard," she teased him, hoping he would stutter and ramble on so that she could listen to his voice more.

Instead he laughed and she'd never heard a better sound, "Gee, thanks Lannie. How are the others taking it?"

Atlanta bit her lip now, feeling guilty about how she'd spoken to Theresa, "I've only told Theresa, but she'll talk to the others because Theresa pretty much hates Taylor- you- now, so they'll want to meet you."

"And kill me. Well, the sooner the better," and then suddenly all the play was gone from his voice and he spoke in the way he did when it was a matter of upmost importance, life-or-death even, "and remember, Atlanta, absolutely _no_ gods. Do _not_ trust them and do _not_ invite them to meet me."

"Yeah, of course I remember and I won't. But why? I want to know why. Things have been so weird around here and I _miss_ you," she was whining, but Atlanta felt too tired to come up with an argument for him.

"We'll see each other again soon. Just keep up the Taylor's-a-sleaze-ball routine and get the others to come see me right away. Please, as soon as you can. Now you need to sleep, I can tell you're too tired to talk much more," there was some amusement in his voice and he was back to kidding around with her. Atlanta wondered why he needed such big changes in tone.

Most of all she didn't want to hang up on him, because she was craving the sound of his voice or the knowledge that he was right down the hall and she could go visit and curl up with him if she had a nightmare about a spider controlling her mind, or was worried about how she may fall prey to temptation again. Archie was saying goodbye to her and Atlanta panicked in a way she'd never known before. What had happened to make her so… so… _needy_? It wasn't anything like her!

"Archie- tell me a story? I need to hear you talk," she begged.

The long pause from the other end made her worried he'd already hung up on her and she was too afraid to call back in case he didn't want to talk to her. Finally, though, he asked, "Are you sure you're alright, Lannie?"

She sighed, "No, I'm not. At all. I just miss you, okay, so tell me a stupid story or something or just ramble on like you always used to," and as an afterthought, she added, "please?"

"Alright- but I'm going to talk about a bunch of boring stuff so you'll fall asleep right away, okay? So I'm saying goodnight now, and I hope you have a wonderful sleep," she wanted to tease him for being sappy, but it made her feel so good to hear that from him.

"You too-" she only barely kept herself from saying his name, just in case anyone was listening.

"Yeah, I wish," he mumbled bitterly and she was about to ask him what he meant when he started talking so she remained silent and listened to his familiar voice and let the fears that had built up in her that she'd never hear it again when she thought he was dead all wash away. She was asleep before she knew it.

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True to her nature, Theresa was discussing this Taylor character with Herry and Odie. Herry immediately did not like the idea of any boy kissing Atlanta, viewing Atlanta as a younger sister, and Odie didn't like the sound of the boy either and decided to investigate any criminal files or public records. As soon as Jay and Neil got wind of this not-so-great boyfriend Atlanta had picked up, both of their protective natures came through and they agreed to try to get to meet this Taylor boy and give them a solid piece of their mind. No one messed with any member of their little family like that.

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The battery in the phone was nearly dead before Archie was content that Atlanta was soundly asleep. He'd managed not to argue with himself or the voices in his head while speaking to her, which was something he'd been terrified he'd do. It happened to often now, while he was wrapped up in the bindings and pages of Cronus's vast library, he had only himself to speak too and Tulais and Achilles had become increasingly vocal on their thoughts and opinions. And they were quite vocal in what they thought of Atlanta, and a lot more of what they wanted Archie to _do _to Atlanta even though he'd argued bitterly with them for a long while until she'd called. Just then, telling Atlanta all he could think of in Greek mythology so that she could fall asleep happy, Achilles and Tulais had added their own stories with heroes Archie had never heard of before.

He'd also been struck with horror when Atlanta had first called because he'd thought the gods had discovered his associating with her. But she was still safe and, clever girl, was swiftly setting everything he needed in motion to reveal the scandal of the prophecy and his own _death_ to the others.

_And then we can have our vengeance upon the gods!_ Tulais laughed.

_The names Achilles, Archie, Tulais and Godslay'r will be recited throughout time. We will be ageless and live on forever in our own legends_, Achilles said triumphantly.

"Hardly likely," Archie muttered, "since I don't plan on fighting the gods at all. I just need to stay hidden and away from the gods until we can talk the matter out and they can see eye to eye with me."

_No, brat, we need to kill them all!_ Tulais snarled.

_Victory and glory, Archie! As my descendant it is your right to become a living legend. And not to mention the fact that you are of Tulais's blood as well- therefore you must avenge the wrongs done upon your ancestors as we were both punished unfairly by the gods!_

"Achilles be quiet. You're too chatty today," Archie sighed. Since discovering all that was going on and the fact that Archie was indeed both Achilles and Tulais' descendant, it had been hard to shut the warrior up. Tulais loved to spur him on and the two of them could argue over pointless things like how much ale they could hold and how many women they had bedded and spoke of ancient times when they both were children and Archie was getting crazier every day. He was having conversations with them regularly now. The only other people he had to speak to were Cronus and Thetis, and Thetis was often away in the oceans and while she was around she only encouraged Archie's erratic behavior because she liked seeing Achilles and Tulais in him. Cronus just went on and on about how Archie should be training to defeat the gods and Archie still felt nervous around him, even though the Titan could make no move against him because Archie had promised Cronus that if he ever betrayed him, Archie would kill Cronus without a moment's hesitation.

That had been Achilles and Tulais' idea. One of a few that Archie had gone through because it actually made sense and it appeased them.

Archie hadn't slept in such a long time. He was exhausted but the voices of his ancestors chattering away in his mind kept him awake and when he did drift off he always awoke in strange places as if he'd been sleepwalking. That scared him because he could unwittingly walk out of Cronus' lair and right into Hera's hands. What frightened him more than that was that upon awakening in strange places, over a certain book when he'd been sleeping in his bed or at the table for a meal or even in the training room and sweating from a heavy workout, was that either Achilles or Tulais or both a points would be talking away as if they'd been the ones in control.

Archie knew about split-personality disorders and schizophrenia; he didn't know enough to know if he had either, but it scared him to think that the apparent voices in his mind could take control of his body when he wasn't conscious to keep it to himself.

_Archie, you know we wouldn't harm your body_, Achilles said.

"Yes, of course I know that," Archie replied sarcastically, flipping the page of another book.

_Your body is as much yours as it is ours now, boy. To hurt you would be to hurt ourselves,_ Tulais rumbled.

"And both of you are dead now," Archie mused, "so how much harm can come to the dead? No, thank you, I'll trust myself with my own body." _Even if I don't know what's happening to me now._

_You're not crazy_, both Achilles and Tulais responded.

Archie groaned and leaned back against the throne he was sitting against. He still didn't feel right sitting in it.

"Still wasting your time on books, m'boy?" Cronus asked as he stepped out of the air nearby. Archie was startled by his sudden entrance and leapt to his feet, Tulais and Achilles sharpening his senses and he stood crouched in a fighting stance, about to call upon the trident, before realizing he was in no immediate danger. Cronus, all three of them noted, was a safe distance away where the trident, even if summoned, would not have been able to strike them from where Archie stood.

Archie relaxed a fraction and sat down on the edge of the throne, eyeing Cronus warily, "What do you want now?"

Cronus didn't answer and, upon seeing there was no further danger, strode up to the throne and looked Archie up and down. Archie scowled at him.

"What?" the teen snapped.

"You aren't in good health," Cronus observed, "you've locked yourself in this room for nearly two days and you haven't eaten or slept since before that. Not to mention you still haven't entirely recovered from your battle with Poseidon and you need more energy for your healing."

"What do you care?" Archie muttered, glaring up at Cronus' menacing figure and realizing how exhausted he felt and how much his stomach ached. His eyelids felt like clamps that he was struggling to keep open and failing.

"Oh, m'boy," Cronus sighed, "have you truly learned nothing, though you've ready most of my library? My future and freedom depends on you fulfilling your destiny and the prophecy, and you cannot do that when you so willingly damage your own body. You need to be in a proper state of fitness, and that includes sleeping and eating and training. So go- there is a meal prepared and then you can bathe and sleep. We'll train when you've rested."

"I _told_ you," Archie growled, "no training. I'm not going to fight the gods."

"But," Cronus held up a hand to silence any arguments, "you are going to meet your former teammates, the gods' very own favorite children whom they will guard jealously. You must be prepared if something goes awry and you must fight for your life and either kill any god in your way, or wait until I arrive to whisk you away and save your life again."

"Again?" Archie asked, cocking his head as he looked up at the Titan, "as I recall, you're usually the one who was trying to _end_ my life."

"The past is past," Cronus scoffed, "and as I recall, had I not been there to speak to the Oracle, you would have had nowhere to go to heal and recover your strength. I have saved your life, you brainless boy. Now go eat and look after yourself." Cronus shooed him away as the books lifted of their own accord and began to return to the shelf.

_Brainless boy_, Archie chuckled to himself.

"How on earth can you be so civil to me? I mean, I was always shouting insults and kicking you in the knees and cursing you and mocking you and thwarting you and all that. I mean, I'd still be doing that save for my life doing a complete turn-around not too long ago. I'd expect you to still be taking potshots at me or like, making me clean up after myself or _something_," Archie asked as he slowly stood up.

Cronus chuckled, "M'boy, let it be told that I am a merciless god when I need to be, but I have never, and will never, be a poor host."

Archie felt a smile flickering on his lips, he needed a stupid argument to lift his spirits, "You're weird."

Cronus regarded him with a blank look, "Your hair is purple."

"You have the super powers of a Titan and you couldn't beat seven teenagers," Archie folded his arms across his chest. He really wanted to get under Cronus' skin, to make him made. Archie really wanted to shout at someone who wasn't himself and if he got riled up enough, Archie knew he could live off the adrenaline for at least another few hours without needing sleep.

"Or maybe I didn't want to defeat you," Cronus said smugly.

"Fine, you're a Titan with nearly infinite powers, more than enough to just get rid of seven teenaged kids, and you 'chose' not too. Why? That's practically cowardice," Archie grinned.

"Touché, m'boy," Cronus' own grin was mocking, "you have the power to destroy the gods, and yet you chose not to. Why? That is, indeed, practically cowardice."

Archie's grin fell and he growled at the Titan. He did not like how Cronus had turned his own argument on him. The voices in his mind were raging at being called cowards. They were tempting him into proving to Cronus just what a coward he _wasn't_.

"Whatever," Archie muttered, turning away.

"Go eat. We'll talk more later," Cronus instructed.

Eager to get away from any more questions, Archie obeyed without question this time. Achilles and Tulais still believed they should have fought Cronus. Archie knew they would have lost anyways.

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Welcome back! Again, I can only say sorry for my absence but sorry just doesn't really cut it.

If you recall, a few chapters back I asked why you thought Archie allowed Achilles to take control more often than Tulais, and fought against Tulais all the time. My theory is that Archie is afraid of being a demon and wants to be a hero more then anything. Thus, he's afraid of Tulais taking control because he feels like he's giving in to being a Demonspawn and so he lets Achilles take more control because Achilles is a hero and that is what Archie perceives as a good thing to be. Just my two cents.

Anyways, Cronus and Archie have a strange stressed-but-playful relationship. Cronus is easily a mentor/father figure to Archie here.

Also, due to the large amounts of action, a lot of the romancing is lost in the upcoming chapters, so enjoy it while you can here. Anyone else find it sweet how Archie comforts Atlanta when he's falling apart?

Also, let's not even ask where Archie got the name Taylor Smith from, hahaha. My theory it's in his sub-consciousness from listening to too many popular country songs.

Until next time! (Hopefully soon!)

-Demenior


	12. Truth

**Rise of a Hero**

Disclaimer: See chapter one

Warnings: See chapter one.

Pairings: See chapter one

Authors Note: No excuses, but it feels good to be back. Potentially more updates in the future (as in, not in a year) but we'll see. Computer crashed and I lost EVERYTHING I have ever written. Not fun times.

**Chapter 11: Truth**

* * *

"I vote we off him and dump the body in a ditch," Odie said, his chair squeaking as he leaned back.

"Can I just hit him? Before we talk, y'know, so he gets the message that he can _not_ mess with Atlanta?" Herry cracked his knuckles.

Just at that moment they heard light footsteps on the stairs and Atlanta hopped into the kitchen, snagging an apple from the fruit bowl. She gave them a curious look as to why _everyone_ was gathered around the table like it was a team meeting and _she_ hadn't been invited.

"What's up, guys?" she asked.

They all glanced nervously at one another. Neil pulled out his mirror and he and Theresa pretended to be checking their appearances in it. They had been talking about _her_. Perfect. She kept up her innocent face and waited for someone to answer.

"Actually," Jay finally said, "we were trying to think of a good time to meet this Taylor," he said it with a faint smile, but Atlanta knew he was trying his best not to scowl at Archie's fake name, "so when is the soonest we can meet him?"

"Well," Atlanta shrugged, thinking hard- Archie had said as soon as possible, "when's the next time we're free? I'll give him a call once we make plans."

"How about today," Jay said without hesitation, "we'll meet him down near the harbor and we'll take him out on the boat."

Atlanta wondered what Archie would say about being near water- especially on the boat. But if she said no, they would want to know why and really- just how many people could be afraid of water?

"I'll just… give him a call," Atlanta stepped out of the kitchen. She realized she'd left the phone up in her room so she ran back up the stairs.

"Why are we taking him on a pleasant cruise?" Theresa snapped once Atlanta was out of earshot.

"Because there's nowhere for this jerk to run when we're a mile off the coast, and no one around to question what we're up to- besides, if he _is_ working for Cronus, then it'll be easier to take care of him with no prying eyes," Jay explained quickly, glancing at the stairs to be sure Atlanta didn't return without notice.

"Sounds like a plan to me," Herry said.

* * *

Atlanta found the phone in her blankets and winced at the _low battery_ warning flashing on the screen. How was she supposed to charge the darn thing anyways? Archie had only given her a phone- not a charger. She hoped her call would last long enough for her to find out.

She expected the phone to die at any second, and thankfully Archie picked up on the second ring.

"Hello?" it was his Taylor voice.

"Hey, it's me, and my phone's dying so I don't have long, but can we meet you, like, _today_?" she said quickly.

"Everyone? Where?" he said quickly. She wondered if he'd heard the part about her phone dying.

"The harbor- but I can make them change their minds because of the ocean-"

"No, that's great. Thank you so much Atlanta, you've been amazing." His voice sounded funny and she realized her phone was literally about to die on her.

"My phone's dying!" she interrupted.

"I'll be there just after noon- _thank_-" Archie was cut off by her phone and Atlanta sighed, tossing it back onto her bed. At least now she could get some answers as to why Archie couldn't come home.

Theresa's voice pulled her out of her thoughts, "Atlanta! Hera just called us all down to the school- she says it's urgent!"

"Coming!" Atlanta shouted back, taking one last glance at her phone, grabbing and slipping it into her pocket, and then dashed downstairs.

* * *

Most of the gods that usually made up residence in the school were waiting for them. Something _really_ serious was going down. The six of them stuck close together, finding comfort in each others mortality. They took their seats on the two couches in the middle of the room.

Hera kept her face neutral. She had to be sure she spoke the right words to keep the children with her and fuel their hatred of Cronus. But they were a tricky bunch, full of thoughts and questions and ideas so different from her own. If there was the slightest suspicion in her voice they'd catch it and know it wasn't truly Cronus to blame for… for this _blasphemy_.

"I am glad to see you are recovering well after the loss of your teammate," she said. Glancing around the room, none of the other gods gave away their disgust and hatred of the Demonspawn.

"This time has been very difficult- on _all_ of us, and I am afraid Cronus not only seeks to destroy your happiness, but ours as well." She had to keep her hands from clenching into fists and sorrow overtaking her person. All of the mortals were entirely focused on her. Their eyes so bright and young.

"Cronus has… he has…" Hera felt rage and pain and sorrow taking hold in her body as she forced herself to admit what had happened, "Poseidon was murdered." Of course it hadn't been Cronus. Cronus wouldn't dare defy Hera like that. It had to have been the Demonspawn- the _Godslay'r_- the night she sent Poseidon to kill him. At first Hera had assumed Poseidon was feeling some sort of guilt for killing the child, since no crime had been committed yet (according to her brother) but then as the days had gone by and with no sign of him she had sent Zeus to visit the palace and found it in extreme disarray. No one in all the seas had been able to locate Posedion.

The children were shouting in disbelief. The gods around her solarium looked grim and some even frightened. The Prophecy was coming to pass, of course they had rights to be afraid.

"Due to Cronus's… _actions_, I must insist we gather another hero to your team. I think that Medea's descendant will get along well with your group. We will work on recruiting her tomorrow," Hera said.

The Demonspawn had struck first, but Hera would have his head as a trophy for her collection.

* * *

For the _slightest_ sense of normalcy, they still wound up at the dock waiting for Atlanta's dirtbag boyfriend. Atlanta figured it was because they wanted something to vent their rage on. She only hoped Archie would reveal himself before they killed him.

They were prepared to go and now waiting around for Taylor. Atlanta felt nervous waiting. Without her phone she had no way of getting in contact with Archie. Neil mentioned something about how they should just leave without Taylor and Odie agreed, but they still waited because Taylor needed to know not to mess with them.

"Hey baby!" an unfamiliar voice called. All six heads whipped around and Atlanta's heart skipped a beat at the completely unfamiliar appearance of Taylor Smith.

"Taylor!" she shouted, unable to control herself, and dashed into his arms. His skin buzzed at the touch and she could feel Archie's warmth when she kissed him. They didn't have a chance to talk because Herry cleared his throat loudly. The others looked _extremely_ unimpressed by Taylor's disheveled looks and obvious manhandling of Atlanta. Even Atlanta had to admit that, in reality, this would be the last boy she'd ever think of being even friends with. Thank god it was Archie.

"Wha's up?" Taylor asked, skipping all manners of introduction and making the team hate him more. Atlanta wondered if Archie actually had a death wish.

"We're going sailing- far enough out that we won't see anyone else or even the shore," Jay said, letting everyone board the ship.

"Cool, but why all the secrecy?" Taylor asked, stopping just short of the boat. Atalnta, holding onto Archie's arm firmly, wondered why he was so tense. Oh, _duh_, water.

"Makes it easier to dump bodies," Herry grinned, thrusting a lifejacket hard into Taylor's chest so he had to let go of Atlanta. The looks everyone was giving him meant they were totally serious about Herry's threat. Atlanta had never loved her friends more.

Atlanta pulled Taylor's arms around herself as Jay took the boat out of the harbor. Everyone was glaring at them and she knew they were whispering the best ways to threaten Taylor and reveal how bad he actually was while making Atlanta realize her mistake in dating him.

"You're very touchy-feely today," Taylor whispered to her.

She smiled and turned in his arms to face him, being sure that the others couldn't read her lips, "I'm just really happy to see you. When are you telling everyone else?"

"Not yet, just trust me. And I never did get a chance to thank you for everything you've done. You're _amazing_," he grinned and leaned down to kiss her. Atlanta quickly forgot that her friends were there.

* * *

Jay cut the engine and they drifted to a stop, rocking on the waves. They all gathered at the stern, leaning on the edge of the boat or lounging in the chairs they'd set up.

Herry didn't waste any time, "How did you meet Atlanta?"

Taylor was looking over his shoulder out at the water and was either ignoring or actually didn't hear Herry.

"_How_ far out are we?" he asked as he turned to face the others. Herry looked even angrier at being ignored.

Jay had his serious, I-don't-like-this face on, "What does it matter?"

"We're alone then? No one's watching us?" Suddenly it seemed like Taylor was doing the interrogating, not the gang.

"No…" Jay said slowly, "we're alone. There aren't any ships in the area right now."

Taylor looked serious now. His lips were drawn thin and he kept looking around as if eh didn't trust Jay was telling the truth. The others were starting to get very suspicious and even Atlanta had to keep reminding herself that Taylor was Archie so that she didn't start wondering if he was working for Cronus.

Suddenly a beautiful woman stepped over the side of the boat beside Taylor and Atlanta nearly jumped out of her skin in surprise. She smiled briefly at the group before turning to Taylor, "You're safe. There are no gods in the area or keeping watch over the children."

"Who are you? What's going on?" Theresa shouted, startling Taylor and the woman. They still didn't answer.

"Thank you," Taylor said to the woman, "keep an eye out and let me know if anything changes."

"Taylor!" Jay shouted, and Atlanta knew he was only one motion away from having his sword drawn, "what's going on?"

"If you'd be quiet for a second I'll tell you," Taylor snapped. Sometimes Atlanta forgot how stupid Archie could be because now everyone was about to pull their weapons and kill him.

"Hold on! He's not working for Cronus," she said quickly, hoping to stop the fight before it started. Then again, Atlanta was often getting herself into bad situations concerning mind control and dangerous boyfriends.

"How do you know- " Odie started but Taylor held up a hand and cut him off,

"Odie I said _be quiet_ and I'll tell you!"

Archie felt all of a sudden that this was all a bad idea and he needed to be deep, deep, deep underground where Hera couldn't find him. It was too open and too exposed out on the water and the water itself wasn't helping him to calm down. But Thetis had said all was safe and Tulais and Achilles couldn't find any imminent danger around them so Archie took a deep breath and dropped the disguise of Taylor Smith.

He was met with silence.

The first thing Atlanta noticed was that Archie had lost weight. Not in a healthy way- his face looked gaunt and she was pretty sure if she took off his shirt his ribs might be close to countable. The second thing was that he obviously hadn't slept much or at all because of the dark rings under his eyes. She was shocked she hadn't seen them before. As her shock wore off she became aware of everyone reaching for their weapons, again. Of course they'd be suspicious- it was what they'd been trained to do and what their lifestyle trained them to be.

"It's okay guys- it's really him! Trust me, please," Atlanta said before the fighting started. Archie squeezed her hand in thanks.

"Theresa," Jay said, his order remaining unspoken but Theresa stepped forwards to _mentally_ check if Archie was who he said he was and Archie panicked. What if she found Achilles and Tulais in his head? They both wanted her to try and that scared Archie even more. He leaned away from Theresa,

"Fat chance I'm letting you in my head," he said.

Theresa smiled, her eyes watering as she turned to Jay, "It's gotta be Archie- an imposter would have leapt at the chance to prove their identity."

The instant change from suspicion to overwhelming joy hurt Archie as he though about how he was about t destroy the world as they knew it. His was so far gone he didn't even feel safe with them anymore- even though he felt _home_- it weasn't safe.

With a start he realized they were demanding answers. Of course they were. He would be too, "Hold on, hold on," he said, looking over his shoulders, "before I start you _must_ understand that the gods can _never_ know I was here- I'll explain," he said as Odie made to ask why, "I'll explain right now but do _not_," he pointedly looked at Theresa and Jay as they were the most likely, "in any way contact them while we're here and _never_ speak of this to them."

"Okay," Odie said slowly. Neil settled back against the side of the boat to listen, which was a shock even to Archie.

Archie took a deep breath. This was it, he was about to explain everything but… he'd decided to avoid talking about Poseidon and Cronus. Those parts he still couldn't believe had happened and as long as the others didn't know about Cronus they couldn't tell Hera and she couldn't find him. Unfortunately his life now forced Archie to avoid the whole truth with his friends. They'd hate him anyways for killing Poseidon. He hated himself too, even if it had been in self-defense.

* * *

"I'm not trying to force you to anything- all I wanted was that you knew the truth. Now you see why I can't come home and why you can't tell the gods. I'm going to stay hidden until I can convince Hera that I really don't want to hurt _anyone_," his heart broke as he realized he'd never be home- at the Brownstone with his friends- again.

He was met with stunned faces. Even Atlanta's hand had dropped away and she'd stepped away from him. Archie felt sick. He'd pulled the rug out from under all the people he wanted to protect the most.

"There's some mistake," Jay finally said, "there has to be some mistake. Hera- the gods- wouldn't do this to us."

"The Oracle is _never_ wrong," Theresa whispered, "I can't understand what Hera is doing trying to manipulate the prophecy like this. She just _can't_!"

"How long have you known, Arch?" Hery asked.

Archie licked his lips, feeling all too vulnerable and exposed. He reached out with his mind to feel Poseidon's trident just outside of corporal form. That made him feel slightly less at risk.

"I found out they wanted to kill me the same day I figured out I was a direct descendant of Tulais- just after you guys ran him over," at his name Archie could feel Tulais stretching in his mind, flexing claws and shaking his fur out. The last thing Archie needed was to have another episode right in front of his friends. He let the glamour of Taylor Smith (all Cronus' and Thetis' handiwork) cover and morph his appearance. Apparently the others had been talking because now they stopped, obviously startled by the sudden change.

"Feels a bit safer," Archie said, shrugging. He hadn't really planned the return trip, or how to signal that it was time to go. He had to return with the group for consistency's sake, just in case the gods were monitoring the gang there, but how does one ask his friends to take him back to land so that they can abandon him, possibly forever? Archie was such a nervous wreck he wasn't sure how long he'd be able to survive out in the open like this.

Archie looked over at his friends and noticed the way Jay was looking at him. It made Archie think back to when Cronus had said about needing his friends to fight with him- and how Jay, because of his closeness with Hera, would be the one that would turn on him. Archie knew that Jay had the strongest sense of right and wrong out of all of them- and that despite their differences Jay would have Archie's back in a heartbeat. Even still, Archie had a hard time reading Jay's face and trying to figure out what was going on in his head.

"You're not telling us something," Atlanta said suddenly, and Archie realized that was exactly what Jay had been thinking, "I know you. You're still hiding something from us."

Archie bowed his head. He was an idiot to think he could conceal everything from his friends, "I am," he admitted, "but it's for my own safety." _And my own guilt. How can I admit that I killed someone who was a friend to us all?_

Before anyone else could speak, Thetis appeared again on the side of the boat, startling everyone. When in water she seemed to _become_ liquid itself, only taking form when she struck the air and yet still retained her graceful beauty. Archie panicked for only a moment, thinking she'd brought bad news, but she smiled and shook her head.

"It's all clear still- but I believe it's in everyone's best interest that you head back to shore now. Archie shouldn't be in the open for too long- it's rather bad for his nerves and the gods will wonder where you are, especially with Poseidon dead."

Archie winced as everyone around him came to attention at her words. He'd only decided to himself that he wasn't going to mention Poseidon and he hadn't even expected Thetis to talk to anyone else.

Hoping to distract everyone he stepped forwards, gesturing to Thetis as he faced the group, "Guys, this is Thetis. She saved my life the night I… 'died'." It really only struck him then who Thetis actually was. He was directly descended from her too. Somewhere along the way he lost that grace that she embodied. She'd also _personally_ known both ancestors that had caused him to get caught up in the entire prophecy.

"Wow, it is nice to meet you," Neil said enthusiastically, putting a hand forwards. Thetis glanced at his hand, not knowing what to do with it.

"Thank you," she said, looking up at him and still baffled over the concept of a handshake. She leaned over to look at Jay and asked him if he could take the boat in. As they all were in the presence of an immortal- especially one connected so closely to one of their ancestors- Jay nodded politely and headed for the wheel. Thetis flashed a smile at Archie as he nodded his thanks and then she returned her attention to Neil teaching her about shaking hands.

Atlanta's hands were back in his and now everyone else knew who he was under his disguise and that alone should've kept Atlanta from being this close _especially_ since Archie didn't have to be the big bad boyfriend and yet she still leaned into him like she still wanted to be this close with him. Archie wrapped his arms around her and thought about how to tell her they couldn't be together anymore and it was stupid to act like they could but he still did anyways.

Archie knew everyone was staring, and Atlanta must've known as well and he was getting ready for the questions and to break Atlanta's heart. He'd answer like he thought they were still friends and she'd be upset and yell and then it would end with everything being wrong with _him_ and nothing on her so then she could move on easier. He wondered who would ask first.

It was Odie, "How do you know that Poseidon is dead?"

That was not the question Archie was expecting and he was caught completely off-guard. Thetis has slipped back into the ocean while he'd been thinking so it was all on him. He stepped away from Atlanta, trying to think of the most reasonable excuse to cover the truth even though he hated lying. The ongoing silence only made any explanation he had less likely. Archie wished he had a lie but he had always been a horrible liar.

He took a deep breath, reality coming at him all over again, and hoped the look in his eyes was goodbye enough for all of them.

"Because I'm the one that killed him."

* * *

DUN DUN DUN.

I'm sorry about SO MUCH IN ONE CHAPTER. I'm trying to save all that for EoaH (which I do want to update again… eventually). RH is supposed to be the 'fun', 'mindless' read that actually has some thought to it, but you can leave and come back and it'll still take you back. EoaH is the one that will kick you out and leave you in the rain if you leave too long (myself included).

Anyways, due to my absence, you get a looonnggg chapter- and I hope that it wasn't long enough to make y'all not want to read it. By the next chapter we'll be heading into another fight and then some _real_ tension will break out. You know that whole Neil/Theresa/Jay triangle that's been going on that everyone's all 'uhhh… no.' about? It has a _purpose_! I swear it's not just random!

Take care everyone! I'll try to be back soon, but I'm starting university again and fanfictions are going to the side for my real-book projects.

Until next time,

-Demenior


	13. Lies

**Rise of a Hero**  
**Disclaimer: See chapter one**  
**Warnings: See chapter one.**  
**Pairings: See chapter one**  
**Authors Note: Well… it's been, y'know, three years. I'm very sorry about the wait. All future chapters and the plot is planned and written out. My goal is to have this story finished by the end of the year. More notes at the bottom.**  
**Chapter 12: Lies**

* * *

_Archie took a deep breath, reality coming at him all over again, and hoped the look in his eyes was goodbye enough for all of them._

"Because I'm the one that killed him."

Atlanta's hand fell out of his and the sea breeze felt colder against his palm than it did anywhere else on his skin. Archie managed not to stare at her as she stepped back, but he was all too aware of every movement she made anyways. Tulais and Achilles prowled in his mind, paying attention to any sign of a possible threat from his friends.

Odie was the first to laugh, though it was an awkward and forced sound, "Poseidon can't be dead, Archie— he's a god. They're _immortal_."

Archie wished that were true. At least, a part of him did. If he hadn't killed Poseidon, then he wouldn't be standing here right now.

He was still most aware of how far Atlanta had moved from him. Archie had known this was coming. He had to push her away sooner or later, but it still hurt more than he was prepared for.

"Archie what are you talking about?" Atlanta asked.

"Obviously you didn't tell us everything," Odie said. Jay stopped the boat and returned to the group. Tulais' hackles raised as Archie met Jay's eyes.

"But Hera told us you were _dead_, man, she said that Cronus killed you," Herry said, "why would the gods want you dead, Arch?"

"Because Archie can do _something_that scares them," Jay answered, and he didn't break Archie's gaze, "it's because of Tulais, isn't it?"

Archie bit his lip while Tulais snarled in his mind, "Partially… I think."

"Are you trying to kill them?" Jay pressed.

"No!" Archie shouted before his ancestors could scream _Y__es_," of course not! I don't want to kill _anyone_!"  
_"It is a shame that our line has grown so feeble," _Achilles muttered, _"I would never stand for any of my comrades to speak to me in such a manner."_

_"There is nothing sweeter than the blood of your enemies," _Tulais agreed.

"Shut up!" Archie snapped at them. Only when he heard the resulting silence did he realize he'd spoken out loud.

Jay frowned and Archie wanted to leap off the boat into the ocean in his embarrassment, but his feet were rooted to the spot.

"… I was just saying this has to be a huge misunderstanding," Jay continued slowly, "the gods are old fashioned: strike first and ask questions later, but they _can _be reasoned with. I'm sure of it. They're probably terrified at the thought that you can hurt them. Or just because of your ancestry We can convince them that no one else has to be hurt."

Archie's body moved without his consent and he fought to reclaim control but Achilles and Tulais wouldn't let him speak, "Jay," Archie growled, "you are forgetting that they have tried to kill me, and that I have killed a member of their family. As it stands they think that I am dead. You were never going to know any of this—that is why they have covered their plot with their lie that Cronus was the one who slayed me. If they find out that I am alive, they will kill me. You will not breathe a word to anyone about this and I will pray I have enough time to hide myself for the rest of my life."

Archie shoved Achilles and Tulais aside, his friends were looking at him with mixed expressions but they all seemed confused and very aware that he wasn't acting like himself,

"So I wanted to warn you all before I leave," he finished.

"Where can you go?" Theresa asked.

"I don't know," Archie said, "but running is my only option. It's the only way I can survive."

His hands were shaking. It was time to leave. Archie couldn't believe he'd lost control like that. In front of everyone. He really _was_losing his mind and he was terrified.

"I—I need to go," he said, "I'm too exposed, it's too open here."

"No!" Atlanta shouted, startling everyone. If the look on her face was to be trusted, she even startled herself.

"No," she said again at a lower volume, "please don't go, Arch. You can't… we're a team," she turned to look at the others and Archie had to bite his lip against losing sight of her eyes, "we're a _team_, we have to stick together, right?"

"Atlanta these are the gods we're talking about. They're kind of a big deal," Odie said, "this is totally _wrong_but, we're a bunch of kids. What are we really going to do?"

"Nothing," Archie said at the same time Jay said "Fix this."

Archie felt his fingers flex for a weapon that wasn't there. Trident or Achilles' spear, he wasn't sure. He was feeling so out of control, he _needed_to get away now.

"I'm sorry but I _have_to go," he said.

Thetis rose from the water beside him. Archie stepped back, reaching for her hand.

Another hand grabbed his. He'd almost forgotten how fast Atlanta could be. She spun him around and he moved to push her away and tell her this was for the better—

She kissed him.

Archie wrapped his fingers into the fabric on her shoulders and kissed her back for all he was worth. This was goodbye. He could feel his eyes beginning to water and clenched them tight to keep from crying. Atlanta was finally here, within his reach and she wanted _him_and now- now he had to walk away.

He was first to break the kiss and pulled away even when every inch of him wanted the opposite. Atlanta looked like she was about to cry. That was ridiculous, Atlanta never cried.

"I'm sorry," he whispered to her.

She wiped her eyes quickly, "You promised you wouldn't hurt me again."

Archie didn't know how to answer. He remembered that, back in the movie theatre when they'd been so overjoyed at seeing each other they hadn't been able to keep their hands off of one another. She'd been devastated, thinking he was dead, and begged him not to hurt her like that again.

He was already crying, he realized, hot tears running down his face. He had nothing he could say to her. Of everything that had happened to him, this was the moment that Archie truly felt like a monster.

Instead he reached back, and took Thetis' hand. They dove into the water and Archie let Achilles swim for him while he mourned.

* * *

"Well that was dramatic," Neil said.

Herry smacked him on the arm before anyone else could reach him, "Neil shut _up_!"

"What can we do?" Atlanta asked them. She sniffled and blinked back tears. Theresa stepped closer to her and wrapped an arm around Atlanta's shoulders.

Jay folded his arms across his chest, "None of you can say anything for now. We'll get back and I'll talk to Hera. I'll find out what's really going on."

"Jay, Archie said they tried to _kill _him why would we say anything?" Atlanta snapped, "Archie said we _can't_tell them!"

"Archie has to be wrong!" Jay shouted.

They all were stunned into silence. Theresa tightened her grip on Atlanta's arm before she could take a run at Jay.

Jay pinched the bridge of his nose, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I— this is a lot to take in and I think it has to be a huge misunderstanding. Archie jumps to conclusions, and I think everything got out of hand. It's just- the gods would _never _try to kill any of us," he continued, "they brought us here for a reason. If they wanted us dead, we would be, but they _need_us!"

"I don't think that's right," Atlanta said, "Archie knows what he's talking about."

"To be honest it seemed like Archie was functioning with a few screws loose," Neil replied, "besides, what are we going to do if the gods did attack Archie? We were brought here to fight Cronus after all. Would we just stop?"

"I can't believe you!" Theresa snapped, "our friend just tells us the gods tried to kill him and you're concerned about Cronus? Seriously?"

"That's usually Jay's forte," Odie said.

Neil shrugged and didn't comment further.

"Let's head back," Jay said, "I'll talk to Hera. I'll find out what's going on... but Archie _did _ask us not to tell them we saw him, so it has to be subtle. I need all of you to pretend this never happened until I can fill you in otherwise. Can you do that?"

They nodded as a group. Jay took his place at the wheel to head them back to shore.

"I didn't realize you and Arch, well, _finally_," Herry said to Atlanta.

"Well obviously it's not going to happen if we don't get this sorted out," she snapped.

"Jay's going to do whatever he can, but I think he has the right idea. We need to play it safe for this to work out," Theresa said, "just trust Jay. He's never led us wrong before."

* * *

Two days later Atlanta was playing with the phone Archie had given her (it was long dead now) when Athena knocked on her door. She startled and shoved the phone under her pillow. They hadn't seen much of the gods since their meeting with Archie, and Atlanta had gone out of her way to avoid them. It terrified her to think that the gods might actually have tried to kill Archie and were lying to them.

"What's up?" she asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Hera needs to speak with all of you, it's urgent. Meet at the school in half an hour," Athena said, and promptly closed the door.

"Okay," Atlanta muttered to the air, "vague, much."

She was glad for the distraction from her schoolwork that she was procrastinating and made her way down the stairs at a normal pace. Herry was grabbing his truck's keys while everyone else was making their way down the stairs and putting on their shoes.

Atlanta caught Theresa's eye and Theresa nodded quickly. They were both aware of Athena coming down the stairs behind Odie and Neil. So this probably had something to do with Archie. Had Jay finally told Hera? They all tried to act calm but they were in the truck faster and with less commotion than usual.

Odie was the first to speak once they were all in the truck and making their way to the school, "So Athena didn't seem angry or upset or really anything besides... normal. At least, to me."

"She would have said if it was Cronus, right?" Atlanta asked, "this has to be about Archie- we're going to get him back!"

"If we can find him," Neil said, "remember he said he was skipping town."

They all fell silent.

"Downer," Herry muttered under his breath.

* * *

They met in Hera's solarium. Jay was sitting on one of the couches with a bloody tissue at his nose, looking rough for wear. Atlanta hadn't seen much of him lately either, with all the avoiding of everyone, but he looked completely exhausted and pale. He must have had a fight with Hera- they had a close relationship but disagreements happen and whenever Jay fought with someone he was close with it always left him looking like death. Suffice to say Jay didn't fight with people without good reason. Let alone his mentor. He practically worshipped the ground she walked on.

"Are you alright?" Theresa asked, sitting down beside Jay.

He smiled but he still looked a little dazed and it didn't reach his eyes, "Just a nose bleed, nothing major."

"A good night's rest will do wonders for you," Chiron said, entering the room. He gave Jay a bottle of aspirin.

Theresa frowned at Jay and he added, "Okay, and a headache too. I'll be fine Theresa, no need to mother me."

"Jay and I were discussing some... disturbing news," Hera finally said. They rest of the heroes standing took it as their cue to find a place to sit.

"It seems that you were contacted by Archie- after we told you of his death."

Atlanta hated this beating around the bush talk, so as usual she opened her big dumb mouth,

"Yeah and he told us Poseidon and Ares tried to kill him! What's the deal?"

Hera looked pissy, like she always did when she was interrupted. Atlanta happened to recall Archie getting turned into a half-donkey for interrupting and tried to sink back into the couch she was on. Jay was scowling at her from across the room as well.

"We are alarmed that you did not come to us sooner," Hera continued, "this imposter that is wearing Archie's face is trying to force a divide between you heroes and us gods. It is obviously the work of Cronus. This creature must be captured and dealt with immediately."

The way she said dealt sounded very morbidly _final _to Atlanta and she leapt to her feet, shouting, "No!"

"He's _not _an imposter!" Theresa shouted, joining Atlanta on her feet.

"Theresa," Jay said softly, "did you read his mind?"

Theresa bit her lip and Atlanta got a sick feeling in her stomach, "Well, no. He wouldn't let me. But that's because Archie hates magic and he hates people being in his head!"

"And it's exactly the reason we can assume this is an imposter," Hera replied, "if it truly were Archie, risen from the grave, he would have stopped at nothing to validate himself to you. I am so sorry children but in your grief you have allowed yourselves to be deceived."

"No! It _is_Archie I know it is! You're _lying _to us, Hera! Why did you tell us Archie died when he's _alive?" _Atlanta screamed.

"Atlanta!" Jay snapped in his 'You are talking to the _Queen of the Gods_' voice.

"You've been hit hardest, I understand," Hera said, "I fear there may be magic involved and it's slipped under our noses. Atlanta I want you to go with Ares and Chiron, and they can be sure your mind is free from outside sources."

"You think someone might be in Atlanta's mind?" Herry asked.

"No one's in my head!" Atlanta muttered.

"Compulsion is a very powerful tool, when wielded correctly," Hera said, "and nearly undetectable. If there is any it can't have had enough time to permanently root in your mind, and you should make a full recovery."

"Recovery?" Atlanta repeated at the same time as Theresa and Odie.

"If there is magic involved then I should go with her," Theresa said, "I'm good with magic, I can help."

"There is nothing wrong with my brain!" Atlanta said again.

"How intensive _is _removing this… magic?" Odie asked, "is it going to hurt Atlanta?"

"It depends on how deep it is, and how long the person has been affected. In a worst case scenario the victim will be killed when the magic removed, best case we can hope for is a mild headache. Which I believe will be the case that we will find with Atlanta," Hera explained.

Jay got to his feet as well now, "Hera you can't just _drop _this on us like that—if there is any risk of Atlanta being hurt then it's unacceptable!" He swayed slightly and then sat down, hand rubbing at his temple.

"I apologize," Hera said, "I never meant to frighten you. All I meant was to tell you the truth. Yes, long-term exposure can be damaging but Atlanta has only been in contact with this false Archie for a short while. I sincerely believe no harm will come to her."

"Do I get a say in this?" Atlanta asked, "because it sure doesn't seem like I get to vote on who messes with my head."

"Well if you are compromised…." Odie said, "then you'd say no."

Atlanta glared at him, "So I _have _to say yes? Who here was with me when Archie said that Poseidon tried to kill him?"

"That's impossible," Hera said, "none of the gods would try to harm you—we brought you here to _protect _us and defeat Cronus. Poseidon has been searching for Cronus' lair since seeing Archie slain."

"Atlanta you should go see Chiron," Jay said, his nose had started to bleed again and he dabbed at it with the tissue he had in his hand, "we need to know if the imposter has done anything to you."

Atlanta dropped her shoulders. Obviously no one was even paying attention to the Archie debate anymore. It felt like it was her against the world. Maybe that was what she was _supposed_ to be thinking.

"Fine!" she snapped, "but don't think we're done talking about Archie. When I come back without anything going on in my brain, _then _we are going to deal with the fact that Archie is alive and _someone _is lying!"

This seemed a really ridiculous turn of events but no one was going to be convinced by her while she may or may not be under the control of some nefarious being. Atlanta realized her only chance to help Archie would be to let the gods pick at her brain to figure out what she already knew: there was nothing there.

Although a small part of her was worried she might be wrong.

Ares was waiting in the hall and grabbed her roughly by the arm, directing her away from Hera's solarium and towards Hermes' office.

"Ow, geeze Ares, where are we going?" she asked, "Chiron's study is the _other_ way!"

"I know," Ares said, "but I need you to help me first."

"Help you with _what_?"

"Catching the Demonspawn," he growled. Atlanta jerked her arm out of his hand in surprise but before she could speak Ares struck her and she fainted.

* * *

**A chapter in which everyone emphasizes at least one word per sentence, and Archie's really melodramatic. And no one ever believes Archie! And poor Atlanta, now she's going to be right in the middle of everything! Will Archie even come to her rescue? (Of course he will, who am I kidding?) **

**Three years! Oh my god I can't believe I've been this awful and let this story sit so long. I've updated my profile with some new info on stories—several have been discontinued, and some (including this one) I have promised to finish and hope to finish in a timely manner. **

**Again, I have a tumblr where I am super active and you can always reach me. The name's the same, just add ' after it. Feel free to drop by my blog and tell me to get writing, point out plot holes (they drive me insane and I usually don't catch them), ask some questions about stories (I might start doing incentives) or even dropping hints at something you may like to see me write. I'm always open to more practice. **

**You are all wonderful and if you leave a signed-in review I will do my utmost to respond to everyone!**

**-Demenior**


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